‘Hulk’ beats up on the box-office competition, pulls in $54.5 million
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LOS ANGELES - “The Incredible Hulk” came out as a box-office bruiser at theatres in Canada and the United States on its opening weekend, yanking in $54.5 million and laying to rest the stigma of his unappreciated big-screen adventure five years ago. “The Hulk got a second chance, got angry and came back with a vengeance,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “This was a big question mark going in. The film had a history or a checkered past.” Ang Lee’s “Hulk” opened in 2003 with a whopping $62.1 million weekend then rolled over and died in subsequent weeks amid terrible word of mouth. The movie crawled to $132.2 million, seemingly a respectable total but actually meagre considering its huge first weekend. Marvel Studios, which financed “The Incredible Hulk,” and distributor Universal hope the new movie, starring Edward Norton as the scientist who turns into the Hulk when angered, will have a longer shelf life and ultimately top out with better numbers than its predecessor. Also rebounding off a bad last movie was director M. Night Shyamalan, whose fright flick “The Happening” with Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel opened at a sturdy No. 3 with $30.5 million. Shyamalan, whose blockbusters include “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” flopped two years ago with “Lady in the Water.” “Night rocked,” said Chris Aronson, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, which released “The Happening,” a tale of an airborne toxin that prompts people to kill themselves in ghastly ways. “Any time you’re coming off an effort like ‘Lady in the Water’ that was perceived as a disappointment, movie-goers and critics tend to be a little gun-shy, but the numbers speak for themselves,” Aronson added. Fans and critics definitely were gun-shy on “The Incredible Hulk,” some expecting the movie to bomb because of its predecessor. “With all the naysayers, this is a huge accomplishment,” said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. “For months, they thought this was going to be a bomb.” The new movie is not a sequel to 2003’s “Hulk” but, in Marvel’s terms, a reboot of the franchise based on the comic book character. Norton takes over from Eric Bana, who starred in “Hulk,” a movie fans found too dark and brooding. This take is more action-oriented, casting Norton’s Bruce Banner as a fugitive in the vein of “The Incredible Hulk” TV series starring Bill Bixby in the 1970s and ’80s. Despite solid reviews and fan buzz, “The Incredible Hulk” did nearly $8 million less over opening weekend than “Hulk.” That gap widens even more factoring in today’s higher ticket prices. But the new flick still put up some of the best numbers ever for a movie opening in June. From the studio’s exit polls, audiences are recommending the movie to friends, giving it a good shot to surpass the total gross of “Hulk,” Rocco said. “Incredible Hulk had a lot of challenges to meet in terms of coming five years after another film,” said David Maisel, who heads Marvel Studios, a division of Marvel Entertainment Inc. “It’s great to see Hulk smash through those barriers like only Hulk can do.” The movie also pulled in $31 million in 38 other countries, putting its worldwide total at $85.5 million. With a cameo from Marvel’s “Iron Man” star Robert Downey Jr., “The Incredible Hulk” also served as a tease for the studio’s all-star superhero adventure, “The Avengers,” scheduled for 2011. “Iron Man” had an opening weekend nearly twice that of “Incredible Hulk” and should cross the $300 million mark domestically in the next week. “Kung Fu Panda,” the previous weekend’s No. 1 movie from DreamWorks Animation and Paramount, slipped to second-place with $34.3 million, raising its total to $118 million. A solid June lineup has pushed Hollywood ahead of last year’s record box-office pace. Since the first weekend of May, domestic grosses total $1.46 billion, up 4.6 per cent from 2007’s, according to Media By Numbers. Factoring in higher ticket prices, actual movie attendance this summer is up 1.6 per cent. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday. 1. “The Incredible Hulk,” $54.5 million. 2. “Kung Fu Panda,” $34.3 million. 3. “The Happening,” $30.5 million. 4. “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” $16.4 million. 5. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” $13.5 million. 6. “Sex and the City,” $10.2 million. 7. “Iron Man,” $5.1 million. 8. “The Strangers,” $4.1 million. 9. “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” $3 million. 10. “What Happens in Vegas,” $1.7 million.
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