'Darkness Falls' wins mild US box office

HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The opening of horror-thriller "Darkness Falls" led the nation's box office with an estimated $12.5 million at 2,837 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

The Sony release, starring Chaney Kley and Emma Caulfield in the small town of Darkness Falls where children are attacked by a supernatural force, performed in line with expectations as the only new film to open amid the distractions from professional football's Super Bowl. The performance by "Darkness Falls" underscored the drawing power of the horror genre among its core audience of teens and young men.

"Darkness Falls" posted the smallest weekend total for a box office leader since "Swimfan" led with $11.3 million during the Sept. 6-8 weekend. And the overall box office mirrored the performance of the 2002 Super Bowl weekend, when the third weekend of "Black Hawk Down" led with $11.1 million as studios opened no major releases.

"This is pretty typical for a Super Bowl weekend," noted industry analyst Arthur Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management. "There's not much point to opening more than one new picture and it makes sense to save your bigger movies for another weekend."

The second weekend of Warner Bros.' "Kangaroo Jack" finished a close second with $11.9 million at 2,848 theaters as the family comedy declined only 28 percent. "Jack" has topped $35 million in 10 days.

Miramax's fifth weekend of "Chicago" continued to benefit from its status as an Academy Awards frontrunner and performed impressively in third with $8.5 million at 616 theaters to lift its overall gross to $40.5 million. Its per-theater gross of $13,717 was far ahead of any other film in the top 10.

"Chicago" has been able to take advantage of a mounting number of awards, including three Golden Globes it won last weekend, and should remain a solid draw for many more weeks.

Fox's third weekend of "Just Married" followed in fourth with $7.5 million at 2,705 theaters to pass $44 million overall. It edged Sony's second weekend of "National Security" with $7.4 million at 2,729 sites as the Martin Lawrence comedy declined by 49 percent.

Holiday holdovers took the next two spots with New Line's sixth weekend of "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" with $6.9 million at 2,666 theaters to lift its 40-day total to $309.1 million. "Towers" is now tied for 12th place on the list of highest grossing with "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi."

DreamWorks' fifth weekend of "Catch Me If You Can" finished a close seventh with $6.6 million at 2,776 theaters to lift its 33-day total to $145.1 million as it lost 38 percent from its previous weekend. "Catch," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, now ranks 109th on the all-time list, tied with "American Pie 2."

Miramax's expanded run of "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," a comedy based on the life of TV producer Chuck Barris, drew a lukewarm response from patrons as it finished eighth with $6 million at 1,769 theaters.

Rounding out the top 10 were a pair of Oscar hopefuls with New Line's seventh weekend of "About Schmidt" with $5.5 million at 1,236 sites and Paramount's fifth weekend of "The Hours" with $4 million at 502 theaters for an impressive $7,968 per site. "Schmidt" has managed to perform respectably over the past month and its gross has nearly reached $38 million overall.

On the art-house circuit, Miramax's Brazilian drama "City of God" grossed a strong $179,000 at 18 sites. Sony Classics' Spanish drama "Talk to Her" continued to perform well with $380,989 at 82 screens to lift its total to $3.9 million.

For the weekend, the top 10 took in a relatively mild $77 million. Business should rebound next weekend with three major releases due out -- DreamWorks' motorcycle drama "Biker Boyz," Disney's spy drama "The Recruit" and New Line's horror-thriller "Final Destination 2."