LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) — Christmas may be almost two months away, but that did not stop moviegoers from rushing out to see “The Santa Clause 2,” a new comedy starring Tim Allen.
Alas, the holiday spirit did not extend to Eddie Murphy’s latest action comedy, a remake of the 1960s TV series “I Spy,” which opened at No. 3. And last weekend’s champion, the reality comedy “Jackass: The Movie” slipped to No. 4.
“The Ring,” a thriller about a killer videotape starring Australian actress Naomi Watts, again held the No. 2 spot.
“The Santa Clause 2,” a Walt Disney Pictures production, earned an estimated $29 million in its first three days of release across North America, the studio said Sunday. Its hit predecessor opened one week later in 1994 with $19 million, and ended up with $144.8 million.
The strong opening was no surprise to executives at the Walt Disney Co. -owned studio, who rebuffed some news reports of mediocre pre-release “buzz” on the film.
“We knew it was a mid-20s picture,” said Chuck Viane, Disney’s president of distribution. The film, in which Allen’s jolly character must find a Mrs. Clause, played in 3,350 theaters, the largest total in the top 10.
But perhaps the biggest story of the weekend was the remarkable staying power of “The Ring.”
The low-budget DreamWorks film held steady at No. 2 with $18.5 million, a tally unchanged from last weekend. Usually genre films lose about half of their audience each weekend, but “The Ring” is benefiting from great word-of-mouth support, said Jim Tharp, president of distribution at the closely held studio.
“There’s an eerie, fun feeling about this movie, and I haven’t seen that in a while,” he said.
With $64.9 million banked after three weekends, the movie is on course to end up with well over $100 million, Tharp said.
“I Spy,” in which Murphy co-stars with Owen Wilson, followed with $14 million. “We certainly would have liked more,” said Rory Bruer, president of distribution at Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp.
In the loose remake of the 1960s TV series, Wilson and Murphy track down a missing fighter jet. Murphy was last in theaters with the box office flop “The Adventures of Pluto Nash.”
Sony’s acclaimed Adam Sandler comedy “Punch-Drunk Love” appeared to hit a road block in its first weekend of wide release. The film rose one spot to No. 7 with $4.2 million, a 27 percent increase from last weekend, but the theater count expanded to 1,252 outlets from 481. The film’s total after four weeks stands at $11 million.
“Jackass: The Movie” was fourth with $13.1 million, taking its 10-day total to $42.5 million. The gross-out film, based on the canceled MTV reality series, follows a merry band of pranksters who eat urine snow cones and roll around on mousetraps. It was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.
The maritime thriller “Ghost Ship” rounded out the top five, falling two places in its second weekend with $6.6 million. The low-budget saga, starring Gabriel Byrne and Julianna Margulies, rose to $21.3 million after 10 days. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc .
Overall box office receipts ended its seven-week winning streak, according to tracking from Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 grossed $103 million, down 22 percent from the year-ago weekend, when “Monsters, Inc.” opened with $62.6 million.
New releases next weekend include “8 Mile,” a drama starring rapper Eminem, and “Femme Fatale,” a film-noir starring Rebecca Romijn-Stamos.
Just bubbling under the top 10 was “Bowling for Columbine,” a Michael Moore documentary about Americans’ love affair with guns. It rose seven places to No. 11 with $1.65 million, after tripling its screen count to 162 theaters. After four weeks in release, the film has earned $4.6 million. It was released by United Artists, a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
