"Stranger Calls" Rings Up Big Bucks

The few moviegoers who ventured out on Super Bowl weekend were dialed in to When a Stranger Calls.

The remake of the babe-in-danger thriller topped the box office with $21.6 million from Friday to Sunday, a period slightly impacted by the Oscar nominations but more affected by a little football game.

The nation's pigskin fixation always makes for a less than Super Sunday at the multiplex, especially among the core young male ticket buyers. But Stranger, a cell phone era update of the 1979 slasher flick, drew an estrongen-heavy crowd to score a solid box-office touchdown. The PG-13 Sony Screen Gems release, which features a no-name cast led by Camilla Bell and only cost about $15 million to produce, opened at 2,999 sites and averaged $7,205. Its audience was 55 percent female and 58 percent under 21.

The only other new release in the top 10 was Something New. Apparently an attempt to counterprogram the Big Game, the PG-13 Focus romantic comedy stars Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker. Unspooling in 1,266 locations, it averaged $3,857 for a seventh-place gross of $4.9 million.

Despite last Tuesday's Oscar nominations, the overall box office was down 18 percent drop from last weekend and 7 percent from last year, when Sony reigned over Super Bowl weekend with another frightfest, Boogeyman, which grossed $19 million.

Brokeback Mountain is the only one of the five films contending for Best Picture still in the top 10. The gay cowboy drama, which earned a leading eight nominations, moved up from sixth to fourth place. But to do so, distributor Focus expanded the film by 435 sites for a total of 2,089 locations, where it averaged $2,874 for $6 million--which was actually 8 percent down from last week. In nine weeks of fairly limited release, Brokeback has roped in $60.1 million.

The only movie in the top 10 gaining percentage was Walk the Line, which missed out on a Best Picture nomination, despite earning five nominations in all, including Best Actor and Actress nods for its stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

"It won't stop," said Fox distribution honcho Bruce Snyder, cheerfully noting the film's 8 percent gain moved it up from 12th place to ninth. The Johnny Cash-June Carter biopic added 376 more screens for 1,577 theaters, where it averaged $2,085 for a $3.3 million. Its 12-week haul stands at $110.6 million.

Two other Best Picture nominees, though not among the top 10, registered gains in limited release. Capote, which earned five nominations in all, added 914 locations to play at 1,239 sites and totaled $2.3 million for a 229 percent gain. After 19 weeks, the film has tallied $18 million. Good Night and Good Luck, which earned six nominations, added 824 locations to play at 929 sites and grossed $1.5 million for a 740 percent boost. The film has registered $26.8 million in 18 weeks.

More disappointingly Universal's prestige picture Munich didn't make it into the top 10 following its surprise Best Picture nomination and five overall, despite the addition of 171 sites and a gain of less than 1 percent. At 1,151 locations, Steven Spielberg's controversial terrorism-and-retaliation study earned $1.7 million to bring its seven-week gross to $43 million.

The fifth Best Picture nominee Crash is now out on DVD.

Meanwhile, last week's chart-topping Big Momma's House 2 fell to second place with $13.6 million--a drop of 51 percent--for a two-week gross to $45.7 million.

The Universal family comedy Nanny McPhee held up better, losing only 32 percent of its opening gross. Down from second to third place the fantasy romp starring Emma Thompson scored $9.8 million for a two-week tally of $26.5 million.

New in limited release was A Good Woman, starring Scarlett Johansson, Helen Hunt and Tom Wilkinson in a reworking of Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan. The Lions Gate release averaged $2,773 per screen at 35 sites for $97,060.

Finally, Tommy Lee Jones' modern western The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada averaged a brisk $6,242 at 33 theaters for $205,994.

Here's a rundown of the top-grossing weekend films, based on studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations (final figures are due Monday):

1. When a Stranger Calls, $21.6 million Big Momma's House 2, $13.6 million
3. Nanny McPhee, $9.8 million
4. Brokeback Mountain, $6 million
5. Hoodwinked, $5.31 million
6. Underworld: Evolution, $5.3 million
7. Something New, $4.9 million
8. Annapolis, $3.4 million
9. Walk the Line, $3.3 million
10. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, $3.1 million

(Originally published Feb. 5, 2006 at 2:35 p.m. PT.)