'Saw II' zaps 'Zorro' at US box office

LOS ANGELES - A sadistic serial killer named Jigsaw carved up Zorro at the Halloween box office in North America as moviegoers opted for the gruesome thrills of "Saw II" over the light comedy of "The Legend of Zorro."

According to studio estimates, "Saw II" sold US$30.5 million worth of tickets in its first three days since October 28, well above industry expectations of a bow in the US$20 million range. Its little-heralded predecessor kicked off with US$18 million a year ago on its way to US$55 million.

"The Legend of Zorro," reuniting Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in a sequel to the 1998 breakthrough "The Mask of Zorro," followed at No. 2 with US$16.5 million in its first three days. The previous film started with US$22 million and finished with US$94 million.

Two other films entered the fray, with modest results. "Prime," a comedy starring Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep, opened at No. 3 with US$6.4 million, and "The Weather Man," starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine, charted at No. 6 with US$4.2 million.

Last weekend's champion, the videogame-inspired sci-fi thriller "Doom," collapsed to No. 7 with US$4.1 million, taking the 10-day haul for the US$60 million film to US$22.9 million.

Rounding out the top five were the equine fable "Dreamer: Inspired By A True Story," with US$6.3 million at No. 4 in its second weekend; and "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" at No. 5 with US$4.4 million in its fourth.

"Saw II" stars Donnie Wahlberg as a corrupt cop who must work with a cancer-ridden killer to free a group of people, including the cop's son, from a grisly death in a booby-trapped house. The R-rated film was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who co-wrote the script with Leigh Whannell, the writer and co-star of the original.

CRITICAL CHAGRIN

To the chagrin of critics, "The Legend of Zorro" turns Banderas' swashbuckler into a family man having issues with his wife (Zeta-Jones) and son (Adrian Alonso). As with the first film, it was directed by Martin Campbell.

While its bow fell short of its predecessor's, distributor Columbia Pictures was focused more on the international picture. The film, capitalizing on All Saints' day in Europe and Latin America and establishing a three-week buffer before "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," opened in 50 countries, and totaled US$27 million. The comparable figure for the previous film in the same countries was US$22.3 million.

The new film was No. 1 in 40 countries, and its best scores were in France, Britain and Spain. Columbia is a unit of Sony.

"Prime" stars Thurman as a woman who falls in love with the son (Bryan Greenberg) of her therapist (Streep). It played mostly to older women, a demographic that failed to support such recent entries as "North Country" and "In Her Shoes." Along with "Doom, "Prime" was released by distributor Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal, which is controlled by General Electric

"The Weather Man" stars Cage as a TV meteorologist in Chicago. Distributor Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom, described the US$20 million melodrama as "a labor of love" for the actor and director, Gore Verbinski.

- REUTERS