Uma Thurman & Gordon Liu in 'Kill Bill'.
- Contributed LOS ANGELES (AP):
QUENTIN TARANTINO'S Kill Bill saga slayed its movie rivals once again, with part two of the vengeance tale following its predecessor as the country's number one weekend draw.
Kill Bill Vol. 2, with Uma Thurman as an ex-assassin continuing her bloody quest for revenge against former colleagues, debuted with US$25.6 million, according to studio estimates yesterday.
That was up 16 per cent from the US$22.1 million opening weekend that Kill Bill Vol. 1 delivered last October. Part two is expected to match or exceed the US$69.9 million domestic total of Kill Bill Vol. 1, said Rick Sands, chief operating officer of Miramax, which released the movies.
Another tale of retribution, the comic-book adaptation The Punisher, opened in second place with US$14 million. The movie stars Thomas Jane as an ex-FBI agent targeting the crime boss (John Travolta) who wiped out his family.
"A very big weekend for revenge," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "Revenge in movies is very cinematic. Everyone lives vicariously through characters in movies, and they can safely get their revenge fix without actually doing it themselves."
Nia Vardalos writer and star of the weekend's other big new release, Connie and Carla was unable to recapture the box-office magic that made My Big Fat Greek Wedding a blockbuster.
Connie and Carla, about two musical-theatre singers posing as men in a drag-queen revue while hiding from mobsters, finished well out of the top 10 with $3.26 million. The movie co-stars Toni Collette and David Duchovny.
Vardalos' Greek Wedding debuted in 108 theatres two years ago with little fanfare, grossing US$597,362 and averaging a solid US$5,531 per cinema over opening weekend. Audience word of mouth gradually built the romantic comedy into a US$241 million sensation.
In contrast, Connie and Carla debuted in 1,014 theatres and averaged a weak US$3,210.
Studio polls found audience reaction was good for Connie and Carla, "so I hope there's a little bit of life left in it," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, which released the movie.
BOX OFFICE DIP
The overall box office dipped slightly after seven straight weekends of rising revenue. The top 12 movies grossed US$86.6 million, down two per cent from the same weekend a year ago.
By splitting Kill Bill into two parts, Tarantino and Miramax gambled that audiences would be willing to pay twice the ticket price to catch both chapters.
The risk paid off nicely. The two movies cost a total of US$60 million to produce, and Kill Bill Vol. 1 alone has grossed US$180 million worldwide, with the movie's video release last week selling two million copies in its first day, padding revenues by about US$40 million more.
"It was a terrific decision financially," Sands said.
After an Easter surge that lifted it back to the number one spot the previous weekend, The Passion of the Christ fell to ninth place with US$4.2 million. Since opening on Ash Wednesday, the movie has taken in US$360.9 million domestically.
Disney's expensive flop The Alamo came in at number 10 with US$4.05 million in its second weekend. The Alamo cost about US$140 million to make and market but has grossed just US$16.3 million.
