Cruise weathers storm to lead US box office

LA, Dec 08: A kimono-clad Tom Cruise wielding a large sword chased "The Cat in the Hat" from its perch atop the North American box office with his new period epic "The Last Samurai," but a snow storm in the U.S. Northeast took a big slice out of movie ticket sales. "The Last Samurai" earned a modest $24.4 million in its first three days since opening Dec. 5, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday. It ranked as the worst opening for a Cruise wide release since Stanley Kubrick's 1999 erotic thriller "Eyes Wide Shut," which opened with $21.7 million and finished with $56 million. Cruise's previous film, "Minority Report," opened with $35.7 million last year.
"Considering what we faced on the East Coast, we're very, very pleased," said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures, which released "The Last Samurai."

He estimated the film could have made $29 million if not for the bad weather, which dumped more than a foot of snow, closed airports and left thousands without power over the weekend in Washington and New England.
Cruise stars as a U.S. Civil War veteran who becomes a Samurai warrior in 19th Century Japan. The opening for the film, which was reportedly budgeted at about $140 million, ranked as the best for a new release in the traditionally slow weekend following the Thanksgiving holiday. The old mark of $18.7 million was set by "Behind Enemy Lines" in 2001.
The audience for "The Last Samurai" was 55 percent under 30 years old, and 58 percent male, Fellman said.

Critics were generally underwhelmed, with such verdicts as "ponderous" (USA Today) and "condescending" (New York Post).

The film, shot mostly in New Zealand, was directed by Edward Zwick, whose credits include "Legends of the Fall" and "Glory." Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc .
The top 10 contained one other new release, "Honey," a hip-hop dance drama starring Jessica Alba, which opened at No. 2 with $14 million. The film, playing mostly to females under 21, was budgeted at about $18 million. It was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal SA .

Universal's "The Cat in the Hat," starring Mike Myers as the titular feline, slid four places to No. 5 after two weeks at No. 1, with $7.3 million. The three-week total for the critically reviled adaptation of the Dr. Seuss children's book rose to $85.5 million.

In between, at No. 3, was Eddie Murphy's "The Haunted Mansion" with $9.5 million, followed by the hit comedy "Elf" with $8.1 million. Their respective totals rose to $46.1 million after two weekends and $139.6 million after five weekends.

"The Haunted Mansion" was released by Walt Disney Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co . "Elf" was released by Time Warner's New Line Cinema.

Ticket sales for the top 12 films slid 27 percent from last weekend to $92 million, according to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. But, even with the bad weather, the tally represented a 34 percent improvement over the year-ago period, when "Die Another Day" was tops with $12.8 million.

Bureau Report