‘Training Day’ Is Tops as a Thriller Prevails Again

Even mean and crooked, Denzel Washington can pack a movie theater.

“Training Day,” the nice-guy actor’s first time as a villain, premiered as the No. 1 weekend film, with $24.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Serendipity,” a romantic comedy starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, opened in second place, with $14 million.

The previous weekend’s top movie, “Don’t Say a Word,” slipped to No. 3, with $10 million. “Zoolander,” the second-place film a week ago, fell to No. 4, with $9.9 million.

Two other new movies premiered in the top 10 this weekend. The highway thriller “Joy Ride,” with Steve Zahn, Paul Walker and Leelee Sobieski, was No. 5, with $7.4 million. The junior-high comedy “Max Keeble’s Big Move” was No. 6, with $5.5 million.

Hollywood did healthy business for the second weekend in a row after a sharp drop last month in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Several big films, including “Training Day,” were bumped from their scheduled Sept. 21 openings, leaving a dearth of new movies.

Overall, the top 12 movies took in $86.9 million, up 14% from the same weekend last year and up 35.5% from a week ago.

It was the second straight weekend that a violent, R-rated thriller topped the box office, indicating that audiences were not shying away from intense subject matter in the wake of the attacks.

“I think this will embolden studios to not be as shy of releasing these types of films,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. “People can differentiate fantasy from reality. The world changes, but as long as the movies are good and marketed well, it’s pretty much business as usual. Except terrorism. I think that’s still a taboo.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Collateral Damage,” in which he plays a firefighter seeking vengeance against terrorists who killed his family, was scheduled to open this past weekend but has been put on hold indefinitely.

Tim Allen’s comedy “Big Trouble,” scheduled to open Sept. 21, also was delayed indefinitely because it includes a scene about a bomb on an airplane.

“Training Day,” co-starring Ethan Hawke, was held for two weeks so Warner Bros. could advertise it more effectively, said Dan Fellman, the studio’s head of distribution.

“Denzel and [director] Antoine [Fuqua] both were very distraught, like all of us, over the events. It just was not in our best interest at that time to go on television and sell the movie,” Fellman said.