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"Resident Evil: Extinction," the third film in the
videogame-inspired sci-fi franchise, sold about $24 million
worth of tickets across the United States and Canada in the
three days since opening Friday, a record for the series,
distributor Sony Pictures said. The first film, "Resident Evil," started with $17.7 million
in 2002, while 2004's "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" launched with
$23 million. Jovovich reprises her role as a renegade action
heroine who leads a band of post-apocalyptic survivors against
thousands of rampaging zombies. The top-10 contained two other new releases that took
advantage of the traditional post-summer lull to score some
quick sales before heading to DVD: the comedies "Good Luck
Chuck" at No. 2 with a modest $14 million, and "Sydney White"
at No. 6 with a paltry $5.3 million. "Good Luck Chuck," released by Lionsgate, stars comedian
Dane Cook in the title role, while Jessica Alba plays his
pratfall-prone muse. "Sydney White," released by Universal
Pictures on behalf of independent producer Morgan Creek, stars
Amanda Bynes as a freshman college student. Last weekend's champ, the Jodie Foster vigilante thriller
"The Brave One," fell to No. 3 with $7.4 million, taking its
10-day total to $25.1 million. The film was released by Warner
Bros. Pictures. Among the films hoping for some Oscar recognition were
Canadian director David Cronenberg's mobster movie "Eastern
Promises," which jumped 16 places to No. 5 with $5.7 million, a
week after opening in limited release. The Focus Features
release stars Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. The strongest performer among films opening in limited
release was director Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," based on the
bestseller about a young man's ill-fated plan to reconnect with
nature in the unforgiving Alaska wilderness. The Paramount
Vantage release sold $206,596 worth of tickets from a total of
four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, and will expand over
five weeks. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert
Ford" earned $144,000 from five theaters in New York, Los
Angeles and Toronto. Brad Pitt stars as the infamous outlaw,
and Casey Affleck as his killer. In its second week of limited release Sony Pictures'
Beatle-flavored musical "Across the Universe" jumped four
places to No. 13 with $2.1 million from 276 theaters. Sony Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp. Lionsgate is a unit
of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Warner Bros. is a unit of
Time Warner Inc. Universal Pictures and Focus Features are
units of General Electric Co's NBC Universal Inc. Paramount
Vantage is a unit of Viacom Inc. |
