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Carrey topples Matrix Reloaded
27/05/2003 12:00 - (SA)
Los Angeles - And on the fourth day the Lord said: Let there be an $86.4 million opening weekend for the God-comedy Bruce Almighty, which will top the holiday weekend box office in North America.
And there was, and it was good for Universal Pictures.
But it was not good for the Warner Bros sci-fi sequel The Matrix Reloaded, which earned $45.6 million to place a distant number two in its second week of release, according to studio estimates on Monday.
Attendance for The Matrix Reloaded, which has collected $209.5 million since its powerhouse debut, shrunk by 60 percent -suggesting The Matrix is unloading quickly.
Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co, characterised the performance of Bruce Almighty as a "definite surprise".
The comedy stars Jim Carrey as a regular guy who receives the powers of God (played by Morgan Freeman) after complaining too much about life. Before getting his comeuppance, Bruce uses the abilities to look up women's dresses, torment his work rival and teach his dog to use the toilet.
"We all thought this would be a big weekend, but the question was - would Bruce Almighty top The Matrix?" Dergarabedian said. "Jim Carrey in a broad comedy like this is pretty much unstoppable."
The only other new film in wide release was the Michael Douglas-Albert Brooks remake of The In-Laws, about a wild secret agent and meek doctor whose children are marrying. The comedy, based on a 1979 film starring Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, collected $9.1 million.
The Matrix Reloaded, a sequel to the 1999 film about a computer hacker trying to unravel a parallel reality devised by machines, faced high expectations after its huge debut - but early success may have shortened its long-term prospects.
"So many people saw that movie so quickly that it's very difficult to maintain for a second weekend," Dergarabedian said.
But the 60 percent plunge in attendance was steeper than other blockbusters, including last year's Spider-Man and Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, which saw second-weekend ticket sales fall by only 38 percent and 40 percent, respectively. - Sapa-AP
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