‘Anger’ manages a big opening

“Anger Management” pulled in massive crowds over the weekend, broke an April box-office record and lifted ticket sales out of a monthlong downturn.

The somewhat crude comedy, starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, grossed an estimated $44.5 million, Sony Pictures Entertainment said, the biggest opening ever for both actors.

That opening outdid Sandler’s “Big Daddy,” which bowed with $41.5 million in 1999, and Nicholson’s “Batman,” which premiered at $40.5 million in 1989. Both of those were released during June. “Anger Management” also out-grossed last year’s “The Scorpion King,” which formerly held the April debut record with $36 million.

Despite its crude humor, “Anger Management” received a PG-13 rating, which expanded its audience. It brought in moviegoers in a range of age groups and played equally strong among men and women. The pairing of Nicholson, who turns 66 this month, and Sandler, 36, contributed to the film’s cross-generational appeal.

Tom Sherak, partner at Revolution Studios, which produced the $75-million film, said “Anger Management” landed at a time when there seemed to be a pent-up demand for big-name, summer-like entertainment. “This was the right picture at the right time,” said Sherak, noting that as the war in Iraq winds down, perhaps more Americans are inclined to go see movies.

“Anger Management” sucked the wind out of older releases in the marketplace as returnees dropped an average of 50% from last weekend. It will probably be the biggest box-office draw until the opening of “X2: X-Men United” on May 2, which marks the start of the summer blockbuster season.

The movie brought life to a moribund market that had been down an average of 20% over the past four weeks, according to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.

Even though the slump coincided with the start of the war in Iraq, most observers attributed it to weak movies. Estimates for the top 10 films were up 8% from the prior weekend.

The estimated $100 million in grosses for all films edged ahead of the comparable weekend last year by nearly 3%, according to Dan Marks of another box-office tracker, Nielsen EDI..

“In a year where comedies are doing extraordinarily well, this is yet another example of a movie that fulfilled the audiences’ needs,” observed Paul Degerabadian of Exhibitor Relations, noting that other comedies like “Bringing Down the House,” and “Head of State” also have performed well.

Another film that opened to great numbers -- on a smaller scale -- was the Asian American drama “Better Luck Tomorrow.” The movie, which cost $250,000 to make and stars essentially unknown actors, grossed $398,489, averaging $30,653 at 13 sites.

The movie distributed by Paramount Classics is the first major release for an all-Asian American cast and was directed by newcomer Justin Lin.

It appealed mainly to a young audience but also appeared to cross over to non-Asians -- 40% of ticket-buyers were non-Asian, said David Dinerstein of Paramount Classics.

MTV Films, which bought the movie at the Sundance Film Festival last year, handled the marketing campaign for the R-rated film targeting 18- to 25-year-olds. The company devised a low-budget grass-roots campaign using street teams, the Internet, concerts and Asian American youth groups to promote the film “as an underground, subversive movie which would spread via word of mouth,” said Van Toffler, president of MTV Films.

Rob Zombie’s long-delayed “House of 1000 Corpses” from Lions Gate Films, opened with an estimated $3.4 million in 596 venues. The original distributor, Universal, balked at the film’s gruesome content, and it wound up at Lions Gate Films.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Preliminary results based on studio projections.

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total (millions)

*--*

*--* Anger Management $44.5 $44.5

Phone Booth 7.5 26.6

What a Girl Wants 6.7 20.4

Bringing Down the House 4.6 117.7

A Man Apart 4.5 18.3

Head of State 4 30.9

House of 1000 Corpses 3.4 3.4

Chicago 3.3 156.9

The Core 3.2 25.7

Basic 2.2 23.8 Source: Nielsen EDI Inc Los Angeles Times

*--*