‘Semi-Pro’ fails to score big win

The gloomiest week in New Line Cinema’s 40-year history ended with a clunk as the Will Ferrell basketball comedy “Semi-Pro” opened to an estimated $15.3 million, below box-office expectations for about $10 million more.

In a hollow victory, “Semi-Pro,” produced for $57 million, ranked No. 1 for the weekend, followed by Sony Pictures’ holdover thriller “Vantage Point,” which took in $13 million, and Paramount Pictures’ family fantasy “The Spiderwick Chronicles” at $8.8 million.

Executives at New Line -- which learned late last week that the studio would be merged into corporate sibling Warner Bros. by parent Time Warner Inc. as a cost-saving move -- declined to comment Sunday on the box-office results.

Best known for the blockbuster “The Lord of the Rings” series, New Line will continue as a production label but is expected to make fewer, and cheaper, movies. Hundreds of jobs probably will be eliminated in the transition.

Despite extensive marketing by New Line and Ferrell himself, “Semi-Pro” opened well below the star’s other recent sports comedies. “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” started at $47 million and “Blades of Glory” opened with $33 million.

Those two were rated PG-13, while the raunchy “Semi-Pro” had a restrictive R rating that kept young moviegoers away. But even “Old School,” one of Ferrell’s few other R-rated comedies, opened better, launching to $17.5 million in 2003.

Industrywide results were down from the same weekend in 2007 for the third straight time. A year ago, total receipts were 21% higher as the comedy “Wild Hogs” led the way with almost $40 million.

Even so, box-office revenue is up about 8% year-to-date, according to data tracker Media by Numbers, thanks to a strong January.

Two other new movies matched industry expectations.

“The Other Boleyn Girl,” a period romance starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana, took in $8.3 million to rank No. 4 for the weekend, according to Sony’s estimate. The movie, made for $35 million, was a co-production with Relativity Media and Universal Pictures’ Focus Features division.

“Boleyn Girl” averaged a solid $7,000 per theater at a moderately wide 1,200 locations, an indication that it could hang tough for several weeks in the marketplace, said Rory Bruer, Sony’s president of domestic distribution.

The movie got mixed reviews but a decent reception from audience members surveyed: 80% rated it “excellent” or “very good,” Bruer said.

As expected, the PG-13 film skewed female, with women and girls making up 72% of the customer base. Two-thirds of the audience was under 35.

Summit Entertainment’s romantic fable “Penelope” also skewed female, opening to about $4 million and ranking No. 8 or 9 depending on the final results. Studios issue weekend estimates early every Sunday that include projections for that day, but final results come out Mondays.

The PG-rated movie, starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon and Catherine O’Hara, was produced for less than $15 million by Stone Village Pictures and Witherspoon’s Type A Films. Summit is spending a modest $10 million to market “Penelope” domestically.

Business climbed by an encouraging 57% from Friday to Saturday, and audience members surveyed by CinemaScore gave it an “A-minus” grade, said Richard Fay, president of domestic distribution at upstart studio Summit.

“Vantage Point,” whose ensemble cast includes Dennis Quaid, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, held up strongly in its second weekend, dropping 43%. The movie, produced for about $40 million, has grossed $41 million domestically through 10 days. It is shaping up as what Hollywood types call “a solid programmer for adults.”

The holdover science-fiction adventure “Jumper” continued to perform well for 20th Century Fox. It took in $7.6 million domestically, lifting its total to $66.8 million through three weekends. The picture, starring Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson, has grossed about $150 million worldwide.

It cost $85 million to produce and is being backed by an expensive marketing campaign.

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josh.friedman@latimes.com

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Box-office results

“Semi-Pro” topped the weekend box-office results, but was a major disappointment by star Will Ferrell’s standards. The political thriller “Vantage Point” dropped a modest 43% to place second. Overall results were down 21% from a year ago, when the comedy “Wild Hogs” opened to almost $40 million. Preliminary results (in millions) in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio projections:

*--* Movie (studio) 3-day gross (millions) Total (millions) Weeks 1 Semi-Pro (New Line) $15.3 $15.3 1 2 Vantage Point (Sony) 13.0 41.0 2 3 The Spiderwick Chronicles 8.8 55.1 3 (Paramount) 4 The Other Boleyn Girl (Sony) 8.3 8.3 1 5 Jumper (20th Century Fox) 7.6 66.8 3 6 Step Up 2 the Streets (Disney) 5.7 48.6 3 7 Fool’s Gold (Warner Bros.) 4.7 59.1 4 8 Penelope (Summit) 4.0 4.0 1 9 No Country for Old Men 4.0 69.6 17 (Miramax) 10 Juno (Fox Searchlight) 3.4 135.1 13 *--*

Industry totals

*--* 3-day gross Change Year-to-date gross Change (in millions) from 2007 (in billions) from 2007 $97.0 -21.1% $1.54 +7.7% *--*

*--* Note: A movie may be shown on more than one screen at each venue. Source: Media by Numbers Los Angeles Times *--*