Universal's PG-13 espionage thriller The Bourne Identity arrived in second place, beating insider expectations with a muscular ESTIMATED $27.5 million at 2,638 theaters ($10,425 per theater).
Directed by Doug Liman, it stars Matt Damon.
"Aside from the fact that the production team really came through, I give a lot of credit to (marketing president) Adam Fogelson and his marketing team," Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said Sunday morning. "In the last two weeks they were able to take this genre film and separate it from the usual spy thrillers by making it look fresh and young and hip. Using director Doug Liman, who's known for (making films with an) independent flavor, that all jelled with the campaign, which got tremendous awareness over the past two weeks. So we were really very, very pleased."
Considering how unconventional Bourne is, Rocco noted, "It's really something to open a film at this level. Matt Damon demonstrates how very talented he is. This is Matt's biggest opening for a (film that for him is) a star vehicle. The other films he was in (that opened bigger like) Ocean's Eleven and Saving Private Ryan weren't really his vehicles. So (in terms of carrying) a film on his own, this is his biggest opening."
Damon, Rocco added, "did a tremendous amount of work to open it. He toured for two weeks on the road talking about the film. I give him a lot of credit because in a crowded marketplace you really have to stand out and that's just what happened. The campaign stood out and the talent stood out and here are the results. It's great. It was a pretty big challenge for us to open this picture in such an environment where there are such high profile films and such huge budgeted competition. So to reach this level of success is quite incredible."
MGM's R rated World War II drama Windtalkers opened in third place in the thick of the box office battle with an ESTIMATED $14.5 million at 2,898 theaters ($5,003 per theatre).
Directed by John Woo, it stars Nicolas Cage.
"It was a big weekend and at least we're in that top tier of movies, so that's good," MGM marketing and distribution president Bob Levin said Sunday morning. "Obviously, we would have liked to have done more business, but our exits show we have about a 55 percent male audience, about two-thirds of them over 25. In that over-25 group, they're very strong.
"They seemed to really like the movie -- so, hopefully, they'll stay with us. They didn't come out quite in the numbers that we hoped (they would) this weekend, but with the stunning performance of Scooby-Doo, maybe they decided to take their kids to see Scooby-Doo this weekend. We'll get 'em (in the weeks ahead). It's now (a matter of) digging in and trying to keep ourselves in that upper tier and just get the business."