HOLLYWOOD - The Interpreter translated into box office dollars this weekend.Sydney Pollack's political thriller, which stars Nicole Kidman as a U.N. translator at the center of an assassination plot and Sean Penn as the federal agent assigned to protect her, debuted in the top spot with $22.8 million, pushing last week's champ, The Amityville Horror down to second place with $14.2 million.
Other newcomers to the Top 10 list included the infectious romantic comedy A Lot Like Love, starring Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet, which opened in fourth place with $7.7 million and the raucous farce King's Ransom, which opened in tenth place with $2.4 million.
The Interpreter was a rare triumph for older audiences, with the over-35 crowd making up 60 percent of the film's viewers, The Associated Press reports. The under-25 audience that drives most of the box office was divided among several movies, including The Amityville Horror and A Lot Like Love.
"You look at the demographic and go, how can The Interpreter be No. 1? But if you put the right movie in the marketplace, the older audience will go," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told AP.
This weekend, the Top 12 films grossed an estimated $83.3 million, up 12.55 percent from last weekend's $74 million take but down .22 percent from this time last year's draw of $83.5 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: 20th Century Fox's R-rated Man on Fire, which debuted at No. 1 with $22.7 million in 2,979 theaters, averaging $7,637 per theater; Sony Pictures' PG-13 13 Going on 30, which opened in second place with $21 million in 3,438 theaters, averaging $6,124 per theater; and Miramax's R-rated Kill Bill Vol. 2, which dropped to third place in its second week of release with $10.4 million in 3,073 theaters, averaging $3,388 per theater.
(This week's box office Top 10 below...)
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES:
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: The Interpreter (Universal, PG-13)
• Gross: $22.8 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,758
• Per-theater average: $8,267
No. 2: The Amityville Horror (MGM, R)
• Gross: $14.2 million (-40%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,323 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $4,273
• Cume to date: $43.8 million
No. 3: Sahara (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $9 million (-31%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,200 (+42)
• Per-theater average: $2,813
• Cume to date: $48.9 million
No. 4: A Lot Like Love (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $7.7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,502
• Per-theater average: $3,095
No. 5: Kung Fu Hustle (Sony Pictures Classics, R)
• Gross: $7.2 million
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,503 (+2,496 in expansion)
• Per-theater average: $2,915
• Cume to date: $8 million
No. 6: Fever Pitch (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.4 million (-36%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,875 (-400)
• Per-theater average: $1,896
• Cume to date: $31.4 million
No. 7: Sin City (Dimension Films, R)
• Gross: $3.7 million (-44%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,343 (-659)
• Per-theater average: $1,592
• Cume to date: $67.2 million
No. 8: Guess Who (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $3.5 million (-28%)
• Weeks opened: 5
• Theaters: 2,484 (-515)
• Per-theater average: $1,409
• Cume to date: $62.3 million
No. 9: Robots (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $3.3 million (-8%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 2,072 (-404)
• Per-theater average: $1,593
• Cume to date: $120.1 million
No. 10: King's Ransom (New Line, PG-13)
• Gross: $2.4 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,508
• Per-theater average: $1,608
OTHER OPENINGS
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Magnolia, NR)
• Gross: $70,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3
• Per-theater average: $23,333