Travolta's Hell on Wheels

Mon., Mar. 5, 2007 4:14 PM PST by Joal Ryan

Hollywood's most in-demand costar? The motorcycle.

Two weeks after Ghost Rider's chopper revved up Nicolas Cage's career, John Travolta, Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence rode Wild Hogs to the top spot at the weekend box office with $39.7 million, Exhibitor Relations reported Monday.

The opening is the biggest of Travolta's and Allen's careers, and the second-biggest of Lawrence's behind Bad Boys II, per stats at Box Office Mojo.

Wild Hogs, a comedy about a quartet of friends combating the mid-life blahs with two-wheel horsepower, also stars William H. Macy, who apparently was between Mamet plays.

Ghost Rider, meanwhile, remained relatively strong in its third weekend (third place, $11.6 million), closing in on $95 million overall, and threatening to become Cage's first $100 million hit since National Treasure.

The honor of top-grossing non-motorcycle movie went to Zodiac, which debuted with $13.4 million (second place). The Jake Gyllenhaal-led thriller about a real-life serial-killer investigation did comparable business to director David Fincher's Seven, the filmmaker's 1997 thriller about a reel-life serial-killer investigation.

Black Snake Moan, the other major new release, had a chain, but not a motorcycle chain, a deficiency the offbeat Samuel L. Jackson-Christina Ricci drama, unlike Zodiac, was not able to overcome. Its $4.1 million opening (eighth place) was nothing special; its $3,309 per-screen-average wasn't, either.

Jim Carrey might want to start kicking the tires at a Harley-Davidson shop after tickets sales for his horror movie, The Number 23 (fifth place, $6.5 million; $24.1 million overall), fell 56 percent from last weekend.

As for Eddie Murphy, he might not have an Oscar like Alan Arkin, but he does have a Norbit (sixth place, $6.4 million; $82.9 million).

The Last King of Scotland ($961,122; $15.3 million overall) and Happy Feet ($466,309; $194.8 million), which do have Oscars like Alan Arkin, saw business jump by 183 percent and 391 percent, respectively, in the weekend after their big wins.

On the art-house circuit, the European documentary Into Great Silence distinguished itself with $11,355 at one theater.

Here's a rundown of the top 10 films from Friday to Sunday based on final studio tallies compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Wild Hogs, $39.7 million
2. Zodiac, $13.4 million
3. Ghost Rider, $11.6 million
4. Bridge to Terabithia, $8.9 million
5. The Number 23, $6.5 million
6. Norbit, $6.4 million
7. Music and Lyrics, $4.9 million
8. Black Snake Moan, $4.1 million
9. Reno 911!: Miami, $3.9 million
10. Breach, $3.6 million