Dan Evans (Christian Bale - left) and Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) star in the remake of '3:10 to Yuma'. - Contributed LOS ANGELES (AP):
The critically acclaimed western 3:10 to Yuma outgunned the fright fest Halloween to become the weekend's top box office draw.
The remake from Lionsgate took in US$14.1 million from Friday through yesterday, according to studio estimates. While the film did not produce huge numbers, it performed well for a genre picture on a historically slow weekend.
"We ended the summer on a strong note and we're starting off the fall in typical fashion," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "It wasn't a huge weekend, but it was better than the same weekend in 2006."
The performance of 3:10 to Yuma, which paired Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, thrilled Lionsgate executives who chose this weekend to position the film for Oscar consideration.
"We wanted to be the first Western into the marketplace this fall, we wanted to be the first prestige film this fall and we wanted to set ourselves up as the first award-calibre picture of the fall and I think we accomplished all of those goals," president of Lionsgate theatrical films, Tom Ortenberg, said.
Westerns, once a Hollywood staple, are a tough sell these days. The last critically acclaimed film of note in that genre was 1992's Unforgiven, starring Clint Eastwood.
This fall will see two Westerns contending both for box office and awards buzz. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, starring Brad Pitt, opens September 21.
Topping the box office gives the film legitimacy with awards voters, Ortenberg said.
"The genre films that have gone on to win best picture, Gladiator, Braveheart, Unforgiven, all of them were commercial successes before they were award winners," he said. "Voters want to see a level of commercial success before they grant you awards success."
The weekend's other high-profile opener, Shoot 'Em Up, starring Clive Owen, took in only US$5.5 million, but it was good enough to finish sixth in an otherwise slow movie weekend.
