Blades of Glory ices box rivals
2007-04-03 07:44
Los Angeles - Will Ferrell skated past
his competitors to take the gold medal at the North American
box office with his new comedy Blades of Glory, according to
estimates released on Sunday.
"Blades" sold $33m worth of tickets since opening on
Friday. The three-day sum beat the most optimistic forecasts by
$3m, said the film's distributor, Paramount Pictures.
The opening ranked as Ferrell's second-best, behind last
summer's equally absurdist sporting romp Talladega Nights: The
Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which raced to $47m during its
first weekend.
Ferrell and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) play the
world's first competitive male pairs figure skaters in an
irreverent comedy that enjoyed widespread critical acclaim -
an increasing rarity for box office champs these days.
Paramount is a unit of Viacom Inc, and the film was
produced by its corporate siblings DreamWorks and MTV Films.
Box office chart
Also new on the box office chart was Walt Disney Co's
animated comedy Meet the Robinsons, which opened at No. 2
with $25m, roughly in line with relatively modest
expectations.
The film was extensively reworked by John Lasseter, who
took charge of Disney's struggling animation operations last
year, after Disney bought the cartoon powerhouse Pixar
Animation Studios, where he was the creative chief behind
blockbusters like Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles.
Last weekend's champion, the animated TMNT, fell to No 4
with $9m, taking its 10-day haul to $38m.
Just ahead of it, down one, was another former chart-topper,
300, with $11.2m. The four-week total for the gruesome
ancient epic rose to $179m. Both films were released
by Warner Bros Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc.
Disney's Wild Hogs rounded out the top five, slipping one
place with $8m. After five weeks, the comedy has
earned $135m.