Clint Eastwood Has His Best Opening Ever, Beats "Bride"

LOS ANGELES — Clint Eastwood had another million-dollar baby with "Gran Torino," which led the box office with $29.5 million in its first weekend of wide release.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Media By Numbers LLC:

1. "Gran Torino," Warner Bros., $29,484,388, 2,808 locations, $10,500 average, $40,524,518, five weeks.

2. "Bride Wars," Fox, $21,058,173, 3,226 locations, $6,528 average, $21,058,173, one week.

3. "The Unborn," Universal, $19,810,585, 2,357 locations, $8,405 average, $19,810,585, one week.

4. "Marley & Me," Fox, $11,391,425, 3,478 locations, $3,275 average, $123,751,596, three weeks.

5. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Paramount, $9,212,515, 2,947 locations, $3,126 average, $94,092,395, three weeks.

6. "Bedtime Stories," Disney, $8,802,120, 3,511 locations, $2,507 average, $97,432,093, three weeks.

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7. "Valkyrie," MGM, $6,617,065, 2,838 locations, $2,332 average, $71,464,448, three weeks.

8. "Yes Man," Warner Bros., $6,032,337, 2,955 locations, $2,041 average, $89,288,024, four weeks.

9. "Not Easily Broken," Sony Screen Gems, $5,314,278, 724 locations, $7,340 average, $5,314,278, one week.

10. "Seven Pounds," Sony, $3,818,230, 2,456 locations, $1,555 average, $66,748,686, four weeks.

11. "Slumdog Millionaire," Fox Searchlight, $3,782,340, 601 locations, $6,293 average, $34,127,195, nine weeks.

12. "Twilight," Summit, $2,841,852, 1,466 locations, $1,939 average, $181,448,642, eight weeks.

13. "The Tale of Despereaux," Universal, $2,733,585, 2,297 locations, $1,190 average, $47,584,450, four weeks.

14. "Doubt," Miramax, $2,521,118, 1,287 locations, $1,959 average, $22,959,422, five weeks.

15. "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Fox, $1,550,629, 1,512 locations, $1,026 average, $77,330,238, five weeks.

16. "Revolutionary Road," Paramount Vantage, $1,425,346, 135 locations, $10,558 average, $3,155,656, three weeks.

17. "Bolt," Disney, $1,370,487, 1,161 locations, $1,180 average, $111,806,897, eight weeks.

18. "The Reader," Weinstein Co., $1,346,742, 507 locations, $2,656 average, $5,510,453, five weeks.

19. "Milk," Focus, $1,296,051, 295 locations, $4,393 average, $19,163,996, seven weeks.

20. "Frost/Nixon," Universal, $891,627, 205 locations, $4,349 average, $7,631,181, six weeks.

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Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Classics are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Comments

[mediamarv]

Bride Wars is a stinkeroo.­.... not a good comparison, since it will be out on dvd within two weeks.

Gran Torino, tho a less than stellar Eastwood effort ( the Iwo Jima films hard to follow), has elements that appeal to good ol white boys threatened by the foreign... to his credit, standing up for Asian neighbors is the main plot line, there is still a lot in the film to make Rush puppets feel good.

[horsey]

that's the total opposite of what the film is about. it's actually about people coming together.

[Zenfull]

"..less than steller Eastwood effort"? The Iwo Jima films don't hold a candle to this film. This film shows excellent directing craft, is extremely well-written, has humor and tragedy, great new acting faces, not to mention the best performance by Clint ever. This film actually has very wide appeal (I am certainly not a Rush puppet) and is part of a new genre keeping with our new President -- time for a change! Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor this year!

[murderBYzeN]

generally the people screaming racism are the ones that are the racists

[scubalady]

Or the ones who have experimented it first hand.

[wedgie]

"generally the people screaming racism are the ones that are the racists"

Weird thing to say. Why did you post it? Are you white?

I think you are.

Betting male too.

Sad.

**

[wolfgangmo]

This film seems to have touched a nerve. Either you loved it or hated it. There seems to be little middle ground..

I fell in the loved it catagory. It felt real to me mostly because "Walt" is pretty much my Dad. He was lost without his wife and didn't "get" his kids. And he was a gruff old SOB with a heart of gold. Lot's of us who have older fathers of that age can identify with this character.

Next on the list is another film with a "washed up 200 year old actor who has no business making films anymore" [to paraphrase a few of the posts on Clint], Doubt. And then Slum Dog. And then Milk. I haven't looked forward to going to the theatre this much in years. Whee. I get to be entertained AND think.

[TMAN]

Saw this movie last night. Truth telling. But a very subtle film, what is this brief fling with existence really about, what's important. We're only alive for a brief nanosecond in the big scheme of things what do we do with that awful awareness. Not good fare for the shallow and politically correct, but solid truth. A fine performance by Eastwood, I even felt the internal battle with the cancer, without the visual clues. Wonderful film.

[Zenfull]

Ditto! Well summarized, TMAN.

[TMAN]

Well, thank you. I too appreciate your point of view, judging by your prior comments.

[thaphenomenalone]

Clint Eastwood, Mickey Rourke and Heath Ledger>Sean Penn

How does Penn keep getting a paycheck? Seriously. He must something bad on some Hollywood execs.

[HWNA]

I will say I have not seen the movie yet, but the trailer makes it seem like a movie about an old white man whose neighborhood is being taken over by rowdy thugs who are all minorities, and the answer is to threaten and kill them.

[horsey]

it's not exactly what it seems to be and eastwood actually befriends a minority family. it has plenty of social redeeming value. a drama with some great belly laughs.

[jrb35]

Wow. You obviously need to watch the movie before jumping to ridiculous and uninformed conclusions. The guys he threatens in the trailer are gang bangers who are intimidating the next door neighbors. It's also a story about overcoming racism and discovering the similarities between people of different ethnicities & generations. And when the movie starts, Clint hates just about everybody regardless of their race, especially his family and his no good grand kids.

[Sammy00400]

Trailers seldom if ever match what the movie is really about. Hence the words 'makes it seem like'.

[Zenfull]

The most telling line from "Walt" (Clint) is when he discovers he has more in common with the Hmong family next door than his own family. A gem of a film.

[PD1769]

Some of these comments illustrate how a disappointing number of dimwits judge movies by unfair standards.

Racist? Duh. Clint's character has attitudes that were formed throughout life. Korean War vet, ex-Ford autoworker, sees immigrants taking over his neighborhood, and those "rice burners" outselling American cars, like his old GT. Old-timers like Walt really do exist, sitting on the front porch with the dog, swilling Pabst Blue Ribbon, gnawing on beef jerky and finger wagging at the neighbor's kid to stay off the lawn. So sorry if your PC sensitivities were offended by a reflection of reality.

If you looked past the salty language, you saw an old man who lost his wife, still seemed disillusioned by war, dealt with the early stages of what appeared to be cancer and felt out of touch with the family he truly loved, though his tough exterior may have said otherwise. I really liked the interaction between him and the young Catholic priest, which went from indifference to a reluctant sort of redemption sought.

I enjoyed it. I laughed out loud at the one liners and liked watching Walt Kowalski's slow transformation as he endeared himself to the Hmong family and acted as a guardian for Thao. I go to the movies simply to be entertained, and Clint got the job done.

As for the rest of you, just stick with empty-headed fluff like "Bride Wars" or "The Unborn" so that those of us who want our money's worth remain satisfied.

[TLaw]

Is he alive? I can't tell from that picture...

Anyway, the movie was bloody awful. I'm glad I didn't pay to see it and when I did attempt to watch it --I fell asleep at my desk!

[horsey]

nice that you can see the theater screen from your desk since that's the only place the movie can be seen.

you act so stupid Tlaw.

[InsideTheFrame]

Clint is the man. What a great piece of work. He is still able to kick all the young actors and show them how its done. He is going to clean up at the awards shows and they will be rightly earned.

[AurigaRa]

no offense to Clint
It was a pretty good movie but Slumdog and Milk are far better

But congrats. He's worked hard and did a great job in the role
Wish we had more Walk Kowalskis to help us get rid of the republicans

[williamina]

weird

[thaphenomenalone]

Sean Penn=Overrated

[horsey]

Milk wasn't worth the price of admission but Penn was good.

[ams87]

Bride Wars...sig­h. I love both actresses but Bride Wars...ser­iously?

Well done Mr Eastwood I say. Cannot wait to see this movie, looking forward to Slumdog Millionarre too. Just gotta twiddle my thumbs and wait for them to be released in the UK :(

[SColbert]

Slumdog is really good! I can't wait to see Gran Torino!

But, I agree about bride wars...ugh

[SColbert]

I saw Gran Torino tonight, and it was so good!! Go watch it!

[WendellPerrySociety]

Give me a break!!!!!!!!! This guy was roundly and properly criticized last year for ignoring the historical fact that African-American soldiers were present on Iwo Jima and he failed to include any in his two movies. So, what does he do? Creates a movie where is constantly throwing around racial epithets and showing minorities as criminals. This guy is the most overrated director in Hollywood.

[horsey]

you obviously aren't very astute at reading or understanding maybe you belong to the George Bush lite in the loafer's club.

that would explain your ignorance but maybe you'd be better off just to shut your face.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

Hey, is that you, Spike?

[Bushwillresign]

1. We all know minorities are not criminals.
2. The racial epithets were terrible, er terribly funny.
3. He put African-Americans in this movie.
a. They were ganging up on a young woman.
b. Walt Kowalski taught them a lesson.
c. Leave Iwo Jima for SPike Lee.

[Mattie]

enough already with the whining!

[harriettubman]

Clint said he didn't include blacks in Iwo Jima because they weren't part of the flag raising. He focused on those soldiers only. The only problem I have with that is I personally knew someone whose grandfather was there (and black) and he said a black soldier helped raise it too. I believe it was like Flags of Our Fathers where they had different versions of it. You know how American History gets changed.

[gouge]

There were two flag raisings -none of the men involved in either one happened to be black- this is a simple, documented fact- there were numerous film and photographers present on Mount Suribachi during both flag raisings, history did not get changed -though the men in the first flag raising were never lionized as were the men in the second -and they were probably better off for it if you know the actual story of what happened.- -not that it really matters as there were plenty of Americans of all colors who heroically served in WW2

I thought both films failed to convey the horrific battle that took place on Volcano Island (Iwo Jima) the terrible toll it took -and perhaps if there had been a closer look at the battle we would have seen black and hispanic soldiers -of course there was a native American Ira Hayes involved in the raising of the second flag (the famous photograph-)

as for Gran Torino -I found it sublime in its meditation upon heroism/racism and the idea of death as redemption­...... I just cannot get how such a smart cool guy like Clint could ever vote for the likes of Sarah Palin.....­there is a disconnect somewhere-

[HLL]

Of course Clint Eastwood won the Box Office this weekend. He's the best of the best of the best.

There's him and then there's everybody else.

[horsey]

if everyone worked as hard as he did we wouldn't have a lack of good movies to see.

[WorldGoneWild]

I totally agree. Hollywood is all about the sequels these days and it's just mindless crap.

[ibivi]

I think Mr Eastwood is amazing. At his age he is still making great movies. I admire that he is fearless in his portrayal of a man who has many faults but manages to redeem himself by overcoming his xenophobia and helping his neighbors. That is an important message for all of us.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

This is SO COOL. Clint is #1 at the box office, and he beat the lame, Hollywood chick flick Bride Wars.

Clint rules!

[horsey]

not bad for an 80 year old guy.

[Alvin4NY]

Experience counts. Integrity counts. People show up for that stuff.....­.

[ChWh]

It was great to see Clint back in action. He talks like this may be his last lead role and if it is he goes out with a bang!