Jack Nicholson stars as Frank Costello, the head of Boston's Irish mob in a scene from the movie 'The Departed'. - Contributed

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Martin Scorsese's mob saga The Departed debuted as the weekend's top movie with US$27 million, muscling out the horror prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.

It was a record opening for Scorsese, whose previous best was US$10.3 million with 1991's Cape Fear. Scorsese's films usually debut in narrower release and gradually roll out to more theatres, but Warner Bros. decided to launch The Departed in a wide release of 3,017 cinemas.

"I think the cast was the deciding factor and the playability of the movie," Warner distribution chief Dan Fellman said of the film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson in a blood-soaked epic about moles infiltrating the Boston police and a crime gang.

The cast pulled it well

"We had a special film here. We had the cast to drive it that way, and it worked out well," Fellman said.

New Line Cinema's Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel, examining the roots of maniac killer Leatherface and his cannibalistic family, pulled in US$19.15 million in its first weekend. The movie had a US$16 million production budget.

The previous weekend's top film, Sony's animated comedy Open Season, fell to No. 3 with US$16 million, raising its 10-day total to US$44.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The weekend's other new wide release, Lionsgate's workplace comedy Employee of the Month with Jessica Simpson, Dane Cook and Dax Shepard, debuted in fourth place with US$11.8 million.

The top-12 movies took in $102 million, up 16 per cent from the same weekend last year. Overall movie attendance is up three per cent over 2005.

Two films debuted strongly in limited release. New Line's suburban drama Little Children opened with US$108,400 in five New York City and Los Angeles theatres.

Box Office Listing

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