Western “3:10 to Yuma” Steams To Top Of Box Office
Posted September 9, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
On the first post-abour Day weekend at the box office, the summer comedies and blockbuster trilogies gave way to a critically-acclaimed period piece and a good old-ashioned slasher flick.
Western ” 3:10 to Yuma” outgunned Rob Zombie fright fest ” Halloween” to become the weekend’s top box office draw as the remake took in $14.1 million. The total wasn’t exactly massive by Hollywood standards, but the film did perform well for a genre picture on a historically slow weekend.
“We ended the summer on a strong note and we’re starting off the fall in typical fashion,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “It wasn’t a huge weekend, but it was better than the same weekend in 2006.”
Still, this weekend’s top 12 films took in 22.5 per cent more than last year’s post Labour Day crop, making the ninth straight weekend the box office has exceeded 2006 results.
“3:10 to Yuma,” stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, and is in prime position to take early control of Oscar season.
“We wanted to be the first western into the marketplace this fall, we wanted to be the first prestige film this fall and we wanted to set ourselves up as the first award-calibre picture of the fall and I think we accomplished all of those goals,” president of Lionsgate theatrical films Tom Ortenberg said.
Though the heyday of westerns has long since passed, this fall will also bring forth ” The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” which stars Brad Pitt and opens Sept. 21.
The weekend’s other high profile opener, ” Shoot ‘Em Up,” starring Clive Owen, fell flat on its face, pulling in only $5.5 million.
Here’s the rest of the weekend’s top 10, with all figures estimated according to Media By Numbers LLC.
1. “3:10 to Yuma,” $14.1 million
2. “Halloween,” $10 million.
3. “Superbad,” $8 million.
4. “Balls of Fury,” $5.7 million.
5. “The Bourne Ultimatum,” $5.5 million.
6. “Shoot ‘Em Up,” $5.5 million.
7. “Rush Hour 3,” $5.3 million.
8. “Mr. Bean’s Holiday,” $3.4 million.
9. “The Nanny Diaries,” $3.3 million.
10. “Hairspray,” $2 million.
