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'House' dominates U.S. box office

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HOLLYWOOD, March 9 (UPI) -- The opening of Steve Martin-Queen Latifah comedy "Bringing Down the House" topped a solid national box office with an estimated $31.7 million at 2,801 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

The Disney release, pairing Martin as an attorney and Latifah as an ex-con who meet through an online date, performed at the top end of expectations following an extensive marketing campaign and a well-received theatrical trailer.

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"House" benefited from Latifah's Academy Award nomination for "Chicago" and Martin's ongoing appeal to moviegoers.

"The number for 'Bringing Down the House' is pretty good for a comedy," noted industry analyst Arthur Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management. "Audiences knew that this was a comedy that would deliver laughs. They don't need anything that's especially complicated."

The performance by "House" also underscores the current box office strength of the genre, which has seen solid numbers in recent months "Two Weeks Notice," "Maid in Manhattan," "Just Married," "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days" and "Old School."

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Finishing a distant but respectable second was the opening of Sony's "Tears of the Sun," starring Bruce Willis on a rescue mission in Africa, with $17.2 million at 2,973 locations. "It's not a bad number," Rockwell said. "I'd say 'Tears of the Sun' looks like it got the core audience of young men to come out."

With the top two films combining for nearly $49 million, overall box office was up significantly over a year ago. Even with only two films over $10 million, the top 10 took in almost $93 million, or $15 million ahead of the same weekend in 2002 when "Time Machine" led with $22.6 million.

DreamWorks' third weekend of "Old School" came in third with $9.3 million at 2,707 theaters to lift its 17-day total past $50 million, followed by Miramax's 11th weekend of Oscar front-runner "Chicago" with $7 million at 2,600. "Chicago" lost only 11 percent of its 10th weekend total and is near $115 million overall.

Paramount's fifth weekend of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" finished a close fifth with $6.8 million at 2,897 sites to push its 31-day total to $87 million. The romantic comedy edged Warner Bros.' second weekend of "Cradle 2 the Grave," which saw a major slide in business with a 60 percent decline to $6.6 million at 2,625 locations.

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20th Century Fox's fourth weekend of "Daredevil" also dropped significantly, falling 53 percent to $5.2 million at 2,778 theaters. "Daredevil," which opened with $45 million over the Presidents Day holiday weekend, is nearing $92 million overall.

Rounding out the top 10 were Disney's fourth weekend of "The Jungle Book 2" with $4.3 million at 2,553 screens, Disney's fifth weekend of "Shanghai Knights" with $2.7 million at 1,905 sites and Universal's third weekend of "The Life of David Gale" with $2.1 million at 1,872 theaters. "Knights" has topped $54 million but "Gale" has been a disappointment with only $17 million in 17 days.

Paramount's 11th weekend of "The Hours" came in 11th with $1.5 million at 962 sites to push its overall gross to $35.3 million. The drama, which has benefited from its nine Oscar nominations, received the Writers Guild of America award for best adapted screenplay on Saturday night.

Disney's sixth weekend of "The Recruit" came in 12th with $1.4 million at 1,071 sites, edging Warner's third weekend of "Gods and Generals" with $1.39 million at 1,233 theaters.

On the art-house circuit, Sony Classics' drama "Laurel Canyon" opened impressively with $161,341 at 10 locations.

"Bringing Down the House" will face competition next weekend from a trio of openers -- MGM's adolescent comedy "Agent Cody Banks," New Line's remake of "Willard" and Paramount's adventure-drama "The Hunted," starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro.

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