LOS ANGELES (AP):
AUDIENCES HIT the road with Robin Williams as his family-vacation romp RV opened at No. 1 with US$16.4 million, while the acclaimed September 11 drama United 93 debuted with US$11.6 million.
Studio estimates Sunday had Universal Pictures' United 93 in second place, just ahead of Disney's sports comedy Stick It, which premiered with $11.3 million. Those rankings could change once final numbers are released today.
The weekend's other new wide release, Lionsgate's spelling-bee drama Akeelah and the Bee, was No. 8 with US$6.25 million
The 20th Century Fox release RV was expected to debut on top, but United 93 had been an unknown quantity, with Hollywood analysts wondering whether movie-goers were ready to relive the horrors of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
DOCUMENTARY-STYLE DRAMA
With painstaking authenticity, United 93 recounts the horrific end of passengers who fought back against their hijackers aboard one of the commandeered planes, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
Families of those killed aboard Flight 93 cooperated with director Paul Greengrass, who recreates the experiences of passengers and air-traffic controllers in a documentary-style drama. United 93 earned widespread praise from critics.
Shot on a modest budget of $15 million, United 93 should easily turn a profit once theatrical, television and DVD revenues are tallied. Universal said it will donate 10 per cent of the first weekend's grosses to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
Coming this August is Hollywood's second September 11 dramatisation, Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, starring Nicolas Cage in the story of two Port Authority policemen trapped in the rubble of the twin towers.
RV, starring Williams as a dad taking his family on a slapstick-filled vacation, debuted in 3,639 theatres and averaged US$4,507. The gymnastics tale Stick It, starring Missy Peregrym and Jeff Bridges, averaged $5,523 in 2,038 theatres.
Overall business rose for the sixth-straight weekend, with the top-12 movies taking in US$90.7 million, up 12 per cent from the same weekend last year. After a big slump in 2005, attendance is running four per cent ahead of last year's, with Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible III opening Friday and kicking off what is expected to be a huge summer at the movies.
Box office listings
1. RV, US$16.4 million.
2. United 93, US$11.6 million.
3. Stick It, US$11.3 million.
4. Silent Hill, US$9.3 million.
5. Scary Movie 4, US$7.8 million.
6. The Sentinel, US$7.6 million.
7. Ice Age: The Meltdown, US$7.05 million.
8. Akeelah and the Bee, US$6.25 million.
9. The Wild, US$4.7 million.
10. The Benchwarmers, US$4.4 million.
