HOLLYWOOD - Sometimes it pays to be the bad guy.Tom Cruise's newest film Collateral--in which he plays a mean ol' contract killer who forces a Los Angeles cab driver (Jamie Foxx) to drive him from job to job in one night--opened in the top spot this weekend with $24.4 million. The action drama pushed last week's champ, M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, down to second place with $16.5 million.
Despite winning the weekend, however, Collateral failed to make it onto Cruise's top-five openers list, which includes his biggest debut Mission: Impossible 2, which opened in 2000 with $57.8 million.
Other newcomers this week included the Brittany Murphy romantic comedy Little Black Book, which opened in fifth place with $7 million, and the Jaws-like indie thriller Open Water, which debuted in limited theaters with $1 million.
This week, the Top 12 films grossed an estimated $97.6 million, down a considerable 31.42 percent from last weekend's $142.3 million take and also down 23.40 percent from last year's draw of $127.4 million.
The top three films at the box office this time last year were Sony's PG-13 S.W.A.T. at No. 1 with $37 million at 3,202 theaters, averaging $11,575 per theater; Buena Vista's PG-13 Freaky Friday in second place with $22.2 million in 2,954 theaters, averaging $7,516 per theater; and Universal's PG rated comedy American Wedding in third in its second week with $15.4 million at 3,195 theaters, averaging $4,840 per theater.
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES: (Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Collateral (DreamWorks, R)
• Gross: $24.4 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,188
• Per-theater average: $7,654
No. 2: The Village (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $16.5 million (-67%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,733 (+3)
• Per-theater average: $4,442
• Cume to date: $85.7 million
No. 3: The Bourne Supremacy (Universal Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $14.1 million (-42 %)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,304 (+124)
• Per-theater average: $4,268
• Cume to date: $124.3 million
No. 4: The Manchurian Candidate (Paramount, R)
• Gross: $10.8 million (-46%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,867 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,767
• Cume to date: $38.5 million
No. 5: Little Black Book (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $7 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,445
• Per-theater average: $2,863
No. 6: I, Robot (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.3 million (-39%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,806 (-398)
• Per-theater average: $2,245
• Cume to date: $126.7 million
No. 7: Spider-Man 2 (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.5 million (-43%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,564 (-437)
• Per-theater average: $2,145
• Cume to date: $354.5 million
No. 8: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (New Line, R)
• Gross: $3.2 million (-42%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,163
• Per-theater average: $1,479
• Cume to date: $12.3 million
No. 9: Cinderella Story (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $3 million (-37%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,065 (-285)
• Per-theater average: $1,475
• Cume to date: $47 million
No. 10: Catwoman (Warner Bros., PG-13)
• Gross: $2.9 million (-64%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 22,75 (-842)
• Per-theater average: $1,277
• Cume to date: $36 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Open Water (Lions Gate, R)
• Gross: $1 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 47
• Per-theater average: $22,021
Code 46 (United Artists, R)
• Gross: $22,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3
• Per-theater average: $7,333