LA, Oct 27: With Halloween around the corner, the North American box office served up some hair-raising surprises over the weekend. "Scary Movie 3," the latest entry in the spoof franchise, enjoyed a record-smashing No. 1 debut by selling a better-than-expected $49.7 million worth of tickets in its first three days, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday. At the other end, Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie's career suffered another frightening free-fall as her latest movie, the war drama "Beyond Borders," opened at No. 11 with $2.0 million, at the lower end of sharply diminished expectations.
In the limited-release world, prospects seemed bullish for "Brother Bear," the Walt Disney Co. cartoon that opened in one theater each in New York and Los Angeles before its national rollout on Nov. 1. The film earned $285,000, for a per-theater average of $142,500. By contrast, "Scary Movie 3" averaged a sterling $14,100, easily the highest in the top 10.

"Scary Movie 3" broke the record for an October release set last year when the Hannibal Lecter horror "Red Dragon" opened at No. 1 with $36.5 million.

It also sets a new record for Miramax Films, the Disney unit that released the film through its Dimension Films genre banner. Miramax's previous best was the first "Scary Movie," which opened with $42.4 million in 2000 and ended up with $160 million. The second film, released last year, opened with $20.5 million and finished with $71.3 million.
Bureau Report