'Wild Hogs' goes full-throttle into No. 1

By Josh Friedman

March 5, 2007 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Wannabe bikers roared into the nation’s movie theaters over the weekend and raced past the competition.

Walt Disney Co.’s comedy “Wild Hogs,” starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy as suburban buddies whose motorcycle trip goes awry, topped the box-office charts with an estimated haul of $38 million in the U.S. and Canada.

It ended the two-week reign of Sony Pictures’ action adventure “Ghost Rider,” starring Nicolas Cage as a hell-blazing avenger who is also on wheels.

“Zodiac,” director David Fincher’s critically acclaimed thriller from Paramount Pictures, finished a distant second with a $13.1-million opening, according to Sunday’s studio estimates.

“Wild Hogs” was generally panned by critics. But audiences were in the mood to laugh, and Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures heavily marketed the PG-13 film as “City Slickers” on wheels.

The stars’ fan bases helped pull in crowds, the studio said.

“The public realized from the marketing materials how much fun these guys had in making the film,” said Chuck Viane, Disney’s distribution president. “There are a lot of cliches like ‘comedy is king,’ ‘funny is money’ -- you name it. This weekend they proved to be true once again.”

Despite the weak reviews, Disney believes that word of mouth on the film is starting out well. Business climbed a healthy 57% on Saturday from Friday.

“Zodiac,” based on the story of the real-life, 1960s serial killer who publicly taunted the San Francisco police, opened about as expected. Many critics have called it the most authentic and unsettling film yet from Fincher, whose works include the hits “Seven” and “Panic Room.” The psychological thriller stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.

Paramount, which co-produced “Zodiac” with Warner Bros., the film’s international distributor, said it was encouraged by the launch. The R-rated film probably was hurt by its long running time of 2 hours, 37 minutes.

Rob Moore, Paramount’s president of worldwide marketing and distribution, noted that all three of this year’s big hits -- “Norbit,” “Ghost Rider” and now “Wild Hogs” -- are essentially escapist entertainment. That continues a trend from late last year, when movies such as “Night at the Museum” and “Happy Feet” packed theaters.

As for “Zodiac,” Moore called its opening “consistent with how anything adult and serious-minded has come in lately. We feel like we’re in for a nice, long run, especially with these reviews.”

Paramount said two-thirds of the audience was older than 25. That bodes well for the life of the film, as older ticket buyers are less inclined than teens to rush out on opening weekend.

The studio can only hope “Zodiac” follows a pattern similar to “Seven,” which opened at $13.9 million in 1995 and then held up strongly in the marketplace, ultimately grossing $100 million domestically and $327 million worldwide.

The weekend’s other new wide release, “Black Snake Moan,” a pulpy romance starring Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci, opened at $4 million to place eighth.

From writer-director Craig Brewer, who broke out with the 2005 sleeper hit “Hustle & Flow,” the movie has generated mixed to positive reviews. As expected, the R-rated drama is playing best in big cities, said Rob Schulze, a distribution executive for Paramount Vantage.

Among holdovers, “Ghost Rider” added $11.5 million in its third weekend, placing No. 3. Based on the Marvel comic book character, the movie will soon top $100 million domestically.

“Ghost Rider” was the No. 1 film outside the U.S. and Canada for the third straight weekend. It now has grossed $60.7 million in other markets.

The post-Oscar bounce for last week’s Academy Award winners was less dramatic than usual. That’s because several top winners, including Martin Scorsese’s best picture champ, “The Departed,” are now established in the DVD market.

Miramax’s “The Queen,” whose star, Helen Mirren, took the best actress trophy, slid 17% in its 23rd weekend, grossing less than $1 million. Still, the film has grossed a solid $54.3 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Fox Searchlight’s “The Last King of Scotland,” whose star Forest Whitaker won best actor, rose 24% to gross almost $1 million -- thanks largely to an increase in theaters.

Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Lives of Others,” which won the award for best foreign film, grossed about $800,000. The political drama, still early in its roll-out, racked up a robust average of more than $7,000 per theater.

Industrywide, results were up sharply from the same weekend in 2006. But year-to-date trends are essentially flat, according to Media by Numbers: Revenue is up slightly and attendance is down slightly.

Next weekend’s key releases include the battle epic “300” from Warner Bros.

josh.friedman@latimes.com

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Box office

Preliminary results (in millions) in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio projections:

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total Wild Hogs $38.0 $38.0

Zodiac 13.1 13.1

Ghost Rider 11.5 94.8

Bridge to Terabithia 8.6 57.9

The Number 23 7.1 24.7

Norbit 6.4 83.0

Music & Lyrics 4.9 36.7