'Soldiers' tops nation's box office

HOLLYWOOD, March 3 (UPI) -- The opening of Mel Gibson's Vietnam War action- drama "We Were Soldiers" easily led the nation's box office with an estimated $20.2 million at 3,143 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

The performance by the Paramount release gave it the top debut for the first weekend in March, edging last year's $20.1 million rollout for "The Mexican." The studio said its exit polling showed a high level of satisfaction with "Soldiers" as 91 percent rated the film "excellent" or "very good."

Paramount also said 73 percent of the moviegoers for "Soldiers" were over 25 and 44 percent were female. The first-place finish shows that customers have continued to support war films following the solid returns for "Behind Enemy Lines" and "Black Hawk Down."

"Soldiers" recreates one of the first major battles of the Vietnam War with Gibson portraying an officer in command of several hundred soldiers.

Finishing a distant second was Miramax's opening of sex comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights" with $12.5 million at 2,225 theaters. The film, starring Josh Hartnett, came into a market that has not seen a comedy aimed at young adult moviegoers since "Orange County" was released a month and a half ago.

The respectable performance of the two new films contrasted sharply with a 61 percent slide for last weekend's leader, Warner Bros.' vampire thriller "Queen of the Damned" with $5.8 million at 2,511 theaters. "Queen" fell to sixth and has taken in $23.8 million in 10 days.

Overall business was moderate with the top 12 films grossing about $81 million, up 8 percent from the same weekend last year.

New Line's third weekend of hostage drama "John Q" continued to draw well in third with $8.4 million at 2,456 sites to top $51 million overall. Universal's second weekend of "Dragonfly" followed with $6.8 million at 2,507 locations, topping Disney's third weekend of "Return to Never Land" with $6.5 million at 2,626 theaters and "Queen of the Damned."

Universal's fourth weekend of "Big Fat Liar" finished seventh with $4.8 million at 2,232 sites, followed by its 11th weekend of "A Beautiful Mind" with $4.4 million at 1,962 locations. "Mind," which has grossed $138.7 million, helped its Oscar prospects by winning the Writers Guild of America award for best adapted screenplay on Saturday.

Paramount's third weekend of "Crossroads" came in ninth with $4 million at 2,301 sites to move its 17-day total to $31.2 million. Rounding out the top 10 was Academy Award front-runner "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which had been absent from the top 10 for two weeks, with $3.1 million at 1,510 theaters.

"Rings" has grossed $287.4 million in 75 days and passed "Home Alone" for 13th spot on the all-time domestic list. It trails "Star Wars Episode V -- The Empire Strikes Back" by $3 million for the No. 12 slot.

Next's weekend's new releases include DreamWorks' fantasy "The Time Machine" and New Line's action-comedy "All About the Benjamins," starring Ice Cube.