'Sky' edges 'Eleven' at US box office

HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The opening of Tom Cruise's "Vanilla Sky" edged the second weekend of "Ocean's Eleven" with $25 million at 2,742 theaters to lead the nation's box office during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

The performance of the Paramount drama-mystery was about in line or somewhat above expectations. "Sky," also starring Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz, portrays the dream-like life of a man whose successful existence is turned upside down following a car crash.

"I'm somewhat surprised that the film did this well since the story is not easy to understand or to market," said industry analyst Arthur Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management. "It's a downbeat movie that you'd expect to see at an art-house cinema, so it's obvious that the star power really carried this. The studio has to be happy with this number."

Paramount said "Sky," a remake by director Cameron Crowe of the 1997 Spanish film "Abre Los Ojos," drew a mostly older audience with 70 percent of its patrons over 25. There were also slightly more female customers than male.

Warner Bros.' "Eleven" finished a close second with $23.1 million at 3,075 theaters, giving the comedy-action vehicle over $73 million after 10 days. "Eleven" lost 39 percent of its opening weekend audience, indicating that it should continue to perform well for several more weeks.

"The drawing power of the stars is by far the biggest reason why 'Ocean's Eleven' has done so well so far," Rockwell said.

Sony's comedy spoof "Not Another Teen Movie" opened with a solid third-place finish with $13.1 million at 2,365 theaters. Rockwell said the performance was respectable, given the lack of recognizable names among the actors.

"The studio clearly didn't spend a lot on this film, so they will probably make a pretty good profit on this film," he added.

Finishing a still impressive fourth was the fifth weekend of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" with $9.9 million at 3,422 theaters. The mega-hit lost 32 percent of its fourth-weekend total and has grossed $253.3 million in 31 days, making it the 16th highest domestic performer of all time ahead of "Batman."

With the next two weeks generating some of the strongest movie going traffic of the year, "Harry Potter" should likely go well past the $300 million mark, Rockwell noted.

With the top four films taking in around $71 million, overall business was solid with the top 10 grossing around $88 million. But that was $7 million behind the same weekend last year when "What Women Want" led with $33 million and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Dude Where's My Car" each took in $13 million.

Year-to-date business is past $7.5 billion, up 9 percent over last year at this point. New Line's "Lord of the Rings" is expected to generate strong business when it opens Wednesday while Warner's drama "The Majestic" with Jim Carrey should also be a significant draw. A quartet of comedies opens Friday -- Paramount's animated "Jimmy Neutron," Fox's Tim Allen vehicle "Joe Sombody," Universal's hip-hop entry "How High" and Miramax's time-travel project "Kate and Leopold."

"There's a surprisingly strong buzz right now for 'Lord of the Rings,' but it's clearly not going to take all of the business," Rockwell said.

As for the rest of the slate, 20th Century Fox's third weekend of "Behind Enemy Lines" finished fifth with a moderate $5.5 million at 2,791 theaters as the drama lost 44 percent from its opening weekend. "Lines" has taken in close to $39 million in 17 days and may have been helped by the public's increased interest in military themes.

Disney's seventh weekend of "Monsters Inc." continued to draw well with $5 million at 2,682 theaters as the computer-animated comedy dropped only 24 percent from its sixth weekend. "Monsters" has now grossed $218.85 million over its first 45 days, leaving it in 28th place all time ahead of "Ghost" and looks likely to generate significant business for several more weeks.

Universal's fourth weekend of "Spy Game" came in seventh with $2.4 million at 2,498 theaters as the thriller continued to edge Fox's "Black Knight" with $2 million at 1,909. "Spy Game" has grossed $57.7 million in 26 days while "Black Knight" has $29.7 million in the same period.

Fox's sixth weekend of "Shallow Hal" followed in ninth with $1.4 million at 1,767 sites to reach nearly $67 million in 45 days. Miramax's art-house hit "Amelie" came in 10th with $750,000 million at 221 theaters in its seventh weekend to edge Disney's fourth weekend of snowboarder comedy "Out Cold" with $700,000 at 1,183 locations.