'Bruno' Sassy Enough for Box Office Win

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Vaaaasup?! Sacha Baron Cohen's'Bruno' sashayed past 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' and 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' to claim the No. 1 spot atop the box office with an estimated $30.4 million.

The movie took in nearly half of its weekend total ? $14.4 million ? on Friday, then tumbled with just $8.8 million Saturday and an estimated $7.2 million Sunday.

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Top 25 Summer Openings

Find out where 'Harry Potter' landed on the list of the 25 biggest summer openings of all time.

WARNER BROS.

Brian Bohannon, AP

25 Biggest Summer Openings

25. 'War of the Worlds'

Opening Weekend: $77,061,953

Release Date: 06/29/05

Infamous couch-jumping escapades aside, the combo of Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and freaky humanity-hating aliens was just too much to pass up.

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PARAMOUNT

24. 'The Da Vinci Code'

Opening Weekend: $77,073,388

Release Date: 05/19/06

International best-seller plus Tom Hanks plus Ron Howard plus religious controversy equals guaranteed box office gold. (Negative points for Tom Hanks' hair.)

Rent the DVD | Buy the DVD

SONY

23. 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'

Opening Weekend: $77,108,414

Release Date: 07/11/07

There is an exception to every rule. This latest 'Potter' film -- perhaps the most somber of the lot -- didn't surpass its series predecessors; but being in the top 25 openings of all time is nothing to scoff at.

Rent the DVD | Buy the DVD

WARNER BROS.

22. 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'

Opening Weekend: $79,500,000

Release Date: 07/15/09

Everyone still loves 'Harry Potter.' The sixth installment in the franchise (two more remain) conjured up $159.7 million in its five-day opening weekend.

Get 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' Showtimes

WARNER BROS.

21. 'Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones'

Opening Weekend: $80,027,814

Release Date: 05/16/02

Hayden Christensen's debut as Anakin Skywalker opened even bigger than 'Episode I,' perhaps because he was no longer yelling, "Wheeee!"

Rent the DVD | Buy the DVD

FOX

20. X2: X-Men United

Opening Weekend: $85,558,731

Release Date: 05/02/03

Before he made 'Superman Returns,' director Bryan Singer was all about the team of super-powered mutants. Audiences apparently thought he should stay that way.

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FOX

19. 'Bruce Almighty'

Opening Weekend: $85,734,045

Release Date: 05/23/03

His biggest summer opening ever wasn't enough to keep Jim Carrey on board for a sequel.

Rent the DVD | Buy the DVD

UNIVERSAL

18. 'The Day After Tomorrow'

Opening Weekend: $85,807,341

Release Date: 05/28/04

Nothing like a little total world destruction at the hands of Mother Nature to pack us into theaters. Or maybe it was just too warm outside for some reason ...

Rent the DVD | Buy the DVD

FOX

17. 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'

Opening Weekend: $87,000,000

Release Date: 05/01/09

Hugh Jackman's Wolverine may have been a tortured soul, but there was nothing tortuous about the $87 million haul his origin story brought in to kick off the 2009 summer movie season.

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' trailer, showtimes & tickets

20th Century Fox

16. 'Lost World: Jurassic Park'

Opening Weekend: $90,161,880

Release Date: 05/23/97

Millions of years ago, dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Now they rule the box office, in Steven Spielberg-directed CGI form, of course.

Rent the DVD | Buy the DVD

UNIVERSAL

Revenues for hit movies typically go up on Saturday, so the nosedive for "Bruno" could be a sign that it lacks the shelf life that made Baron Cohen's "Borat" a $100 million smash.

"It is unusual for a film to drop on Saturday. Normally, you expect the film at least to be even on Saturday or above compared to Friday, because Saturday is the biggest moviegoing day of the weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It's going to be interesting to see how it does over the long run."

"Bruno," which features Baron Cohen as a wannabe going to extremes to achieve celebrity, finished ahead of 20th Century Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which took second with $28.5 million. The "Ice Age" sequel raised its domestic total to $120.6 million.

Finishing third after two weekends in the No. 1 spot was Paramount's sci-fi blockbuster "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" with $24.2 million, raising its domestic haul to $339.2 million. The sequel passed the $319 million total of 2007's "Transformers."

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Bruno' Premiere Pics

In this film publicity image released by Universal Pictures, Sacha Baron Cohen portrays the title role character in "Bruno." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)

In this photo provided by StarPix, actor Sacha Baron Cohen appears as his character Bruno as he hosted the opening night of his new film at the AMC Empire Theater in New York City, Thursday, July 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Allocca, StarPix)

In this photo provided by StarPix, actor Sacha Baron Cohen as his character Bruno hosted the opening night of his new film at the AMC Empire Theater in New York City, Thursday, July 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Allocca, StarPix)

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen visits "Late Show with David Letterman" at the Ed Sullivan Theater on July 9, 2009 in New York City. Daniel Radcliffe and Sacha Baron Cohen Visit "Late Show With David Letterman" - July 9, 2009 Ed Sullivan Theater New York, NY United States July 9, 2009 Photo by Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage.com To license this image (57871914), contact WireImage.com

Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage.com

Sacha Baron Cohen visits "Late Show With David Letterman" at the Ed Sullivan Theater on July 9, 2009 in New York City. Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Late Show With David Letterman" - July 9, 2009 Ed Sullivan Theater New York, NY United States July 9, 2009 Photo by Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic.com To license this image (57873820), contact FilmMagic.com

Marcel Thomas/FilmMagic.com

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen visits "Late Show with David Letterman" at the Ed Sullivan Theater on July 9, 2009 in New York City. Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Late Show With David Letterman" - July 9, 2009 Ed Sullivan Theater New York, NY United States July 9, 2009 Photo by Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage.com To license this image (57871903), contact WireImage.com

Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage.com

FILE - In this June 25, 2009 file photo, Sacha Baron Cohen, star of the new comedy film "Bruno," interacts with photographers at the Los Angeles premiere. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file)

The weekend's other new wide release, 20th Century Fox's romantic comedy "I Love You, Beth Cooper" opened weakly with $5 million, finishing at No. 7. The movie centers on a high school valedictorian who uses his graduation speech to declare his love for a bombshell classmate (Hayden Panettiere).

"Bruno" outpaced the $26.5 million opening weekend for Baron Cohen's surprise 2006 hit "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." "Borat" started with $9.2 million on opening day Friday then climbed to $10.1 million Saturday, a sign that fans were talking it up to friends.

That good word-of-mouth propelled "Borat" to a long run at theaters, the movie climbing to a $128.5 million domestic total.

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Complete Summer Movies Coverage

"Borat" also scored its big opening weekend in far fewer theaters. "Bruno debuted in 2,756 cinemas, more than three times the number for "Borat."

Nikki Rocco, head of distribution at Universal, said comedies such as "Bruno" typically drop off over opening weekend this time of year, while "Borat" opened in November, when audiences are less fickle than summer crowds.

The studio will have to wait until next weekend for a sense of how well "Bruno" can hold up for the long haul.

"I don't know. That crystal ball just isn't on my desk this morning," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "Zany comedies tend to be like that, so I'm hoping that in the scheme of things, it just plays out the way zany comedies will play out."

Reviews on "Bruno" were not as strong as those for "Borat," which critics generally liked. There also had been questions about whether Baron Cohen's flamboyantly gay persona might prove off-putting to audiences.

"Bruno" did most of its business in cities on the East and West coasts, while revenues were "softer, much softer in middle America," Rocco said.

Even if revenues continue to plunge, "Bruno" is well on its way to turning a profit for Universal, which paid $42.5 million for rights to distribute it domestically and in eight other territories. "Bruno" took in $25 million in overseas markets so far, including $20 million in those Universal acquired, among them Great Britain, Australia and Germany.

Modi Wiczyk ? co-chief executive officer of Media Rights Capital, which financed "Bruno" ? said the movie exceeded the company's expectations. Wiczyk said he had anticipated "Bruno" would finish in the range of $25 million domestically for the weekend.

"We don't have talking robots or karate in our film," Wiczyk said. "For that increasingly small subset of films that don't have robots, we did terrific."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Bruno," $30.4 million.

2. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $28.5 million.

3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $24.2 million.

4. "Public Enemies," $14.1 million.

5. "The Proposal," $10.5 million.

6. "The Hangover," $9.9 million.

7. "I Love You, Beth Cooper," $5 million.

8. "Up," $4.7 million.

9. "My Sister's Keeper," $4.2 million.

10. "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," $1.6 million.

On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

2009-07-13 00:01:09

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