Cast members Jessica Alba (R) and Michael Chiklis, stars of new film "Fantastic Four", pose during the film's premiere at Liberty Island in New York, July 6, 2005. The film opened in the U.S. on Friday. REUTERS
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters):
THE SUPERHERO movie Fantastic Four overcame some of the worst reviews of the year to top the North American box office with better-than-expected weekend ticket sales of US$56 million, its distributor 20th Century Fox said on Sunday.
The News Corp.-owned studio had hoped for an opening in the mid- to high-US$30 million range. The film, which cost a little over $100 million to make, is based on characters in the stable of comic book company Marvel Enterprises Inc., and had been in the works for 11 years.
WAR OF THE WORLDS SLIPS
Last weekend's champion, War of the Worlds, slipped to No. 2 with US$31.3 million for the three days beginning on Friday, followed by Batman Begins with $10.2 million.
The Jennifer Connelly suspense film Dark Water opened at No. 4 with US$10.1 million, and the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie action thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smith slipped two places to No. 5 with US$7.9 million.
Fantastic Four, which revolves around a quartet imbued with special powers such as invisibility and elasticity after a space mission gone wrong, appeared to fill moviegoers' desire for something light and frothy, said Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder.
CRITICS UNIMPRESSED
But critics were unimpressed. The New York Times said the film was "fantastic only in its commitment to mediocrity," while USA Today was marginally kinder, calling it a "ho-hum futuristic foray."
The film's less-than-stellar cast includes Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis. It was directed by Tim Story, best known for the urban comedy Barbershop.
War of the Worlds was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.. Batman Begins was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc.. Dark Water was released by Touchstone Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co. Fox also released Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Top 10 North American box office movies
During the July 8-10 weekend, "Fantastic Four," leads according to studio estimates collected on Sunday by Reuters. Final data will be issued on Monday.
1 () Fantastic Four ........... $56.0 million
2 (1) War of the Worlds ...... $31.3 million
3 (2) Batman Begins .......... $10.2 million
4 () Dark Water ................ $10.1 million
5 (3) Mr. & Mrs. Smith ....... $7.9 million
6 (5) Herbie: Fully Loaded ...$ 6.3 million
7 (4) Bewitched ................. $5.5 million
8 (6) Madagascar .............. $4.3 million
9 (7) Rebound . $ 2.9 million
10 (8) Star Wars ................ $2.6 million
NOTE: Last weekend's ranking in parenthesis (new release).
