"Collateral Damage" Blows Arnold Back

Despite a delayed release, scathing reviews and controversial subject matter, Arnold Schwarzenegger was in charge at the box office again as his Collateral Damage bombed in at number one with a mediocre $15.1 million, according to final studio figures Monday.

The R-rated Warners release--in which Ah-nuld plays a firefighter on a revenge mission against terrorists who killed his family in an attack on a skyscraper--found enough of the older male audience it targeted to earn $5,332 per 2,824 screens.

Schwarzenegger has not headlined a true top hit since the mid-'90s when True Lies opened in 1994 with $25.8 million and Eraser debuted in 1996 with $24.5 million. (In 1997, Batman & Robin opened with $42.8 million, but that gross could not be credited solely to Schwarzenneger, who was merely the villain Mr. Freeze in the George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell Caped Crusader movie).

His new action flick opened stronger than his last film, 2000's The 6th Day, which started with $13 million and ultimately only grossed $35 million. However, Collateral Damage's opening fell short of Arnold's out-to-get-the-devil End of Days, which debuted in third place with $19.8 million over the 1999 Thanksgiving weekend dominated by Toy Story 2.

Though $15.1 million is not in the same league as his blockbuster Terminator 2, which debuted with $31.7 million in 1991, the Damage loot is considered reasonably okay considering the muscleman star's aging image, the competition from a couple of other new movies and competition from the Winter Olympics.

The serious action drama Black Hawk Down, after three straight weeks as number one, was pushed down to a fourth-place $8 million by the arrival of the weekend's other wide releases.

The combined talent and charms of popular teens Frankie Muniz (of the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle) and Amanda Bynes (of Nickelodeon fame) landed Big Fat Liar in second place, but only with a so-so $11.6 million. The PG-rated Universal caper about a couple of young pranksters exacting revenge on a greedy Hollywood producer averaged $4,565 per 2,521 screens.

In third place, Rollerball was a gutterball. Opening in 2,762 theaters with a $3,263 average, the MGM remake of the 1975 action fantasy about extreme sport in a corporate-controlled future was far from fast and furious, only gathering up $9 million in third place.

In limited release, Shiri, the Korean import about slick agents tracking tough terrorists planning a superweapon attack on a major sporting event, actually did better. The slash-and-splatter actioner, an IDP/Fireworks production, averaged $4,165 at just seven screens for a total of $29,156.

Overall, the top 12 films grossed an estimated $84.5 million, about 8 percent over last weekend, but 22 percent down over the same time last year when the gruesome thriller Hannibal cannibalized the box office with $58 million and there was no downhill skiing and skeleton sledding to watch on TV.

Here are the top 10 weekend tallies, compiled by Exhibitor Relations Inc.:

1. Collateral Damage, $15.1 million
2. Big Fat Liar, $11.5 million
3. Rollerball, $9 million
4. Black Hawk Down, $8 million
5. Snow Dogs, $7.2 million
6. The Count of Monte Cristo, $6.5 million
7. A Beautiful Mind, $6.3 million
8. A Walk to Remember, $5.5 million
9. The Mothman Prophecies, $4.9 million
10. I Am Sam, $4.6 million

(Originally published 2/10/02 at 2:10 p.m.)