DreamWorks and Paramount’s outrageous big-budget comedy “Tropic Thunder” topped the weekend box office in grossing an estimated $26 million from 3,319 runs for a five-day opening of $37 million, meaning the R-rated pic will need sturdy legs and a strong overseas run to impress financially.
The star-packed pic, playing best among older males, landed in between “Pineapple Express” and “Step Brothers” in terms of its opening performance, but those two R-rated laffers both cost far less to produce.

The biggest victory of the weekend belonged to Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight,” which is now the second highest grossing pic of all time after “Titanic” domestically, according to Rentrak. Batman sequel may have been bumped from the No. 1 spot after four weeks, but it dipped only 36% in its fifth frame to an estimated $16.8 million from 3,590. Cume is $471.5 million, eclipsing the $461 million earned by the original “Stars Wars.”

“Dark Knight” beat the “Star Wars” franchise in more ways than one. Unspooling over the weekend was Lucasfilm’s family toon “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” the feature film companion to the upcoming Cartoon Network series. Pic took the No. 3 spot, grossing an estimated $15.5 million from 3,452 in a solid but not spectacular opening.

The summer box office continues to run slightly ahead of last year’s record-breaking grosses, although the weekend itself was down roughly 2% from the same weekend a year ago, when R-rated laffer “Superbad” debuted to $33 million. The Olympics likely dampened multiplex traffic. (Saturday night’s telecast was the most watched Saturday night program on NBC in 18 years.)

Several other wide openers also tried to stake their claim at the B.O. before kids start returning to school this week.

Benefiting from being the only horror pic in the market, New Regency’s “Mirrors,” directed by Alexandre Aja and distributed by 20th Century Fox, came in No. 4 and debuted to an estimated $11.1 million from 2,664 runs. That’s the best showing for a Fox release since early summer. New Regency financed and produced the film, which skewed female.

On the specialty side, the Weinstein Co.’s Woody Allen pic “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” distributed by MGM, placed No. 10 for the weekend in grossing an estimated $3.7 million for a per screen average of $5,361.

Summit’s 3-D toon “Fly Me to the Moon” wasn’t able to crack the top 10 in its bow, hampered by holdover 3-D film “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” “Fly Me to the Moon” opened to an estimated $2 million from 452 screens, coming in behind “Journey,” which grossed an estimated $3.5 million from 1,405 screens for a cume of $88.1 million in its sixth sesh.

If the fledgling 3-D market is crowded, the market for R-rated films is even worse, with “Tropic Thunder,” “Pineapple Express” and “Step Brothers” essentially opening back to back. “Mirrors” also added to the late-summer deluge.

“Tropic Thunder,” starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Tom Cruise, wasn’t able to match the $41.2 million five-day opening for “Pineapple Express” the previous week. “Step Brothers” debuted to $30 million over the July 25 weekend. Latter two comedies were both produced by Judd Apatow and released by Sony.

DreamWorks said “Tropic Thunder,” directed by Stiller, performed in line with expectations. Some 57% of the aud was male and 57% over age 25. Because it appealed more to adults, “Tropic Thunder” saw stronger weekend numbers and lighter traffic on its first two weekdays than did “Pineapple Express.”

The combo of “Tropic Thunder” and “Mirrors” seemed to take a bite out of “Pineapple,” which dropped a sizable 57% in its second weekend to an estimated $10 million from 3,072 runs for a cume of $63 million in its first 10 days. Comedies coming out of the Apatow camp usually enjoy stronger holds.

DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan said “Tropic Thunder” steadily built its audience over the five-day stretch. He predicted that strong word of mouth will keep the film high up on the box office chart.

Cruise’s portrayal of a foul-mouthed, overweight studio exec is a particular crowd favorite.

“Each cast member is getting terrific notices. Because we purposefully didn’t include Tom Cruise in any of the marketing materials, his performance is definitely getting attention,” Sullivan said.
The production budget of “Tropic Thunder” is being put at $90 million, although it’s believed to be closer to $120 million before factoring in tax credits. Production budget on “Pineapple Express” was under $30 million.

DreamWorks expects the film to do well overseas, pointing to Stiller’s and Cruise’s popularity abroad. Stiller’s “The Heartbreak Kid” grossed $90 million internationally and $30 million domestically. “Tropic Thunder” opened in only a few territories over the weekend.

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