'10,000 B.C.' leads box-office hunt with $35.7M

By Cindy Clark, USA TODAY

10,000 might be No. 1, but it's a long way from 300.
Moviegoers went back to prehistoric times over the weekend, making 10,000 B.C. the box office leader with $35.7 million, according to estimates from Nielsen EDI.

The film, which follows a group of people struggling for survival against such obstacles as woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers, was aimed at the audience that last year made the similarly effects-laden period piece 300 a record-breaker. 300, however, captured more than $70 million at the exact same time of year.

10,000 B.C. also came in well behind the openings of past blockbusters from director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla), whose best debut came four years ago with The Day After Tomorrow ($68.7 million).

Still, considering that the film had no famous-name stars and suffered brutal reviews, its gross met most analysts' expectations.

In second place was the Martin Lawrence comedy College Road Trip, which took in $14 million, just under expectations.

Last week's top film, Will Ferrell's comedy Semi-Pro, dropped sharply (62%) to No. 4 with $5.8 million, perhaps because its target audience was already off to spar with saber-tooths. It fell behind even Vantage Point, in its third weekend, which brought in $7.5 million.

The weekend's other widely released new film, The Bank Job, about a heist in London, had a middling opening with $5.7 million.

In limited release, the throwback comedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day had a solid debut, landing at No. 11 with $2.5 million on just 535 screens. That gives it the third-highest screen average ($4,749) among the top films, behind 10,000 ($10,478) and Road Trip ($5,173).

Overall business was down 36% from the same weekend last year, and it was the fourth straight weekend of down revenue compared with 2007.

Attendance is up just 0.5% so far in 2008 compared with a year ago, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"The advantage we've been enjoying over the last couple of months has really taken a punch in the gut," says Paul Dergarabedian, Media By Numbers president.

But Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released 10,000, says there's nothing to be downbeat about. "Those movies opened up in the summer," Fellman says. "We're very strong for this time of year."