Foster stumbles at box office
2007-09-17 09:48
Los Angeles - Jodie Foster blew
away the box office competition with her vigilante thriller
The Brave One, but the poorly reviewed film's performance
paled against her recent efforts.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, the "Death
Wish"-style movie sold about $14m worth of tickets
across the United States and Canada during its first three days
of release.
Among her recent headlining releases, Flightplan opened
to $25m in 2005, while The Panic Room debuted with a
career-best $30m in 2002.
Foster was not the only Oscar laureate to underwhelm
moviegoers.
Billy Bob Thornton opened at No 3 with the comedy
Mr Woodcock, another film rooted in revenge.
Garnering even
worse reviews than The Brave One, it earned $9.1m.
The Brave One was released by Warner Bros Pictures, and
Mr Woodcock by New Line Cinema.
Traditional post-summer lull
In a climate of diminished
expectations, the Time Warner Inc-owned studios said they were
satisfied with their respective films.
Hollywood studios take advantage of the traditional
post-summer lull in September to dump unheralded product on the
market so that they can then focus on their year-end Oscar
hopefuls.
Last weekend's champion, the Western remake 3:10 to Yuma,
slipped to No 2 with $9.2m.
After 10 days, the Russell
Crowe-Christian Bale vehicle has earned a modest $28.6m,
having cost about $55m to make.
It was distributed by
Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
Rankings
could change when final data are issued on Monday.
The top 10 contained one other new release, the South
Korean monster movie Dragon Wars, which failed to scare up
business with a $5.4m opening at No 4.
The Brave One stars Foster as a New York radio journalist
who is seriously beaten in Central Park, and decides to clean
up the city one thug at a time.
Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan
directed, and Terrence Howard plays a cop on her trail.
'Pretentious fantasy'
The
Baltimore Sun described it a "pretentious payback fantasy."
As is usually the case with Foster movies, women made up
the majority of the audience (55%).
Almost
three-quarters were aged over 30, and 80% of viewers
termed the film "excellent" or "very good," the studio said.
Foster, 44, who averages a headlining role in a major
studio release about once every two years, won Oscars for The
Accused and The Silence of the Lambs.
Mr Woodcock, in which Thornton plays a sadistic gym
coach engaged to marry the mother (Susan Sarandon) of one of
his former victims (Sean William Scott), was originally shot
by Australian filmmaker Craig Gillespie more than two years
ago.
The release was delayed by re-shoots, and then a decision
to hold it back for Thornton's New Line film The Astronaut
Farmer, which opened to $4.5m in February.
Box office disappointment
Critics almost unanimously ripped Woodcock, with the
nation's best-known reviewer, Roger Ebert of the Chicago
Sun-Times, one of the rare exceptions, according to the Rotten
Tomatoes movie site (http://www.rottentomatoes.com)
It becomes the third consecutive box office disappointment
for New Line, following Rush Hour 3 and Shoot 'Em Up.
Among other recent Thornton releases, School for
Scoundrels opened to $8.6m last year, The Bad News
Bears $11.5m in 2005, and Friday Night Lights $20m in 2004.
Thornton won an Oscar for writing Sling
Blade, while Sarandon was honoured for Dead Man Walking.