3:10 to Yuma Barely Corrals the Box Office

The American moviegoing public likes Westerns — or at least, they like it enough to make the Christian Bale/Russell Crowe Western “3:10 to Yuma” #1 at the box office over the weekend, but they didn’t love it enough to send it to the top spot with more than $14.1 million. Lionsgate will tell you that that’s within expectations, but it’s B.S. — not when you have major draws like Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. $14.1 million in its first three days at the box office is pretty mediocre for a movie with “Yuma’s” pedigree, especially considering that Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” came in second with $10 million in its second week at the box office.

Meanwhile, the Clive Owen actioner barely scraped the box office with a meager $5.45 million, landing the film at #6 in its opening debut. New Line Cinema was expecting something approaching $10 million. Oops.

For sheer staying power, check out the Judd Apatow-produced teen comedy “Superbad”, which continues to impress with $8.0 million, enough to give it the #3 spot over the weekend. The ping pong gross-out comedy “Balls of Fury” landed at #4 with $5.7 million, while Matt Damon’s never-say-die (and not so-secret) super agent Jason Bourne’s third adventure, “The Bourne Ultimatum”, continues its strong run with $5.48 million, giving it the #5 spot.

(via)