No. 1 ‘Erin Brockovich’ Has Roberts Sitting Pretty

Julia Roberts did it again, scoring another sizzling opening with “Erin Brockovich,” which pushed its way up to a lusty $28.2-million estimate in its first three days on 2,847 screens, just shy of $10,000 a theater. That’s the second-biggest March opening ever, behind “Liar, Liar” ($31.4 million); the year’s second-best debut so far, behind “Scream 3” ($34.7 million); and Roberts’ second-strongest opening, behind “Runaway Bride” ($35.1 million).

What makes the true-life tale’s tally significant is that it’s not a comedy or a romance like Roberts’ previous hits “Runaway Bride” or “Notting Hill”; plus it has an R rating and ticket buyers were primarily over the age of 25. Also, both “Bride” and “Notting” opened in summer with a much larger available audience.

Buoyed by strong reviews and even stronger exit polls, “Erin Brockovich” should join Roberts’ expanding $100-million club, which includes the aforementioned titles as well as “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Hook,” “Sleeping With the Enemy,” “The Pelican Brief” and, of course, the film that started it all, “Pretty Woman.”

The teen thriller “Final Destination” was the only serious alternative for the older-teen crowd (it’s also R-rated) and managed to take off with an estimated $10.2 million in 2,587 theaters, even without the requisite cast list of TV teen heartthrobs.

After soaring to No. 1 in its debut, “Mission to Mars” had a kind of a NASA second week, having a rough landing with a 52% drop on 3,060 screens, down to an estimated $10.9 million. It has an OK 10-day total of $40 million.

“The Ninth Gate” also seems headed for a quick exit as second-weekend ticket sales on the Roman Polanski thriller starring Johnny Depp plummeted 47% to a predicted $3.5 million in 1,657 theaters and a 10-day total of $12.5 million.

The opposite could be said for “My Dog Skip,” the little mutt that could. The third weekend of national release for this low-budget family film remained almost exactly in the same place as in the second weekend (down a mere 9%) to around $5.5 million on 2,331 screens, indicating the pint-sized film is developing into a major hit. Its total so far is just under $22 million.

“The Whole Nine Yards” lost some ground, dropping 42% to an estimated $3.2 million in its fifth weekend on 2,503 screens. But “Yards” has topped the $50-million goal post already, making it one of the year’s better performers to date.

With the Oscars less than a week away, “American Beauty” is still very much in bloom, performing like a newcomer in its reissue, dropping only 21% to a predicted $2.9 million on 1,661 screens. On Friday, “Beauty” crossed the $100-million mark.