By Gregg Kilday
Reuters
Wednesday, September 5, 2007; 2:22 AM
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Michael Myers sliced and diced his way to the top of the heap at the Labor Day Holiday weekend box office in North America, as director Rob Zombie's "Halloween" update earned $30.59 million during its first four days, according to final data issued Tuesday.
"Halloween," produced by the Weinstein Co.'s Dimension Films label and distributed by MGM, established a new record for the holiday. The crown had belonged to "Transporter 2," which bowed to $20.1 million two years ago.
According to CinemaScore's sampling of the opening-weekend audience, males accounted for 62% of the audience. A lot of attendees must have grown up with the franchise, too, because 57% of the audience was 25 or older. Overall, moviegoers awarded the R-rated film a B-minus.
Under the banner of its genre label Rogue Pictures, Focus Features also took advantage of the Labor Day weekend to launch its martial arts parody "Balls of Fury," starring Dan Fogler and Christopher Walken. The PG-13 comedy took third place overall for the weekend with a gross of $14.11 million, and because it actually opened on the Wednesday before the holiday, its total stands at $17.07 million.
20th Century Fox had less luck with its revenge thriller "Death Sentence," starring Kevin Bacon. The R-rated film limped into eighth place with a $5.34 million four-day gross. The film attracted an older, male audience, according to CinemaScore.
The 117 films tracked by The Hollywood Reporter grossed a collective $148.6 million, up nearly 14% compared with the $130.6 million the industry took in at the same time a year ago.
After two weekends at No. 1, Sony Pictures' "Superbad" slipped to No. 2 with $15.85 million, and its total rose to $92.69 million; Universal Pictures' "The Bourne Ultimatum" was fourth with $13.39 million in its fifth weekend, and its haul came in at $202.81 million; and New Line Cinema's "Rush Hour 3" was fifth with $10.84 million in its fourth weekend as its domestic tally hit $122.70 million.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
