‘Invincible’ Shows Its Mettle at Box Office

Walt Disney Co. scored again with one of the surest bets in the movie business in recent years -- an inspiring sports story based on true events -- as the against-all-odds football drama “Invincible” topped the box office in its opening weekend.

And “Little Miss Sunshine” continued climbing up the charts as it expanded nationally in its fifth week of release, making Fox Searchlight’s gamble on the quirky indie comedy look smarter than ever.

“Invincible” stars Mark Wahlberg as a 30-year-old teacher and bartender who won a spot on the 1976 Philadelphia Eagles’ roster in an open tryout.

It grossed a better-than-expected $17 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to Sunday’s studio estimate.

The movie, from first-time director Ericson Core, is well on its way to becoming the latest modestly budgeted hit from Disney in the true sports genre. The studio’s “Remember the Titans,” a football saga starring Denzel Washington, grossed $116 million in 2000, and “Miracle,” its story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team starring Kurt Russell, grossed $64 million in 2004.

“These are true-life underdog stories that have sports themes, but they transcend that and tug at the heartstrings,” said Chris LeRoy, Disney’s general sales manager. “That’s why audiences respond so strongly.”

Disney and “Invincible” producers Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray also clicked with the 2002 feel-good baseball movie “The Rookie,” starring Dennis Quaid.

That picture, which grossed $76 million, was fictional but also told the story of an aging underdog.

“Invincible” averaged an estimated $5,838 at 2,917 theaters to handily win the weekend over another sports movie, Sony Pictures’ NASCAR spoof “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

“Talladega Nights,” starring Will Ferrell, was second. It grossed an estimated $8 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its total to about $128 million.

“Little Miss Sunshine” finished third. It pulled in an estimated $7.5 million, lifting its total to $23 million after three weeks. The low-budget film averaged $5,245 at 1,430 theaters, expanding from 691 locations the previous weekend. The studio is using a staggered release schedule to capitalize on positive word of mouth.

“We’re now totally confident this movie is going to play well into the fall,” said Steve Gilula, chief operating officer at News Corp.’s Fox Searchlight, which paid a record $10.5 million to snap up the picture at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

At this point in its release, “Little Miss Sunshine” has outperformed other Fox Searchlight hits such as “Napoleon Dynamite,” “The Full Monty,” “Garden State” and “Sideways,” Gilula said.

He said the movie could ultimately match or exceed “The Full Monty,” which generated $46 million in its full run. But it was too early to tell whether it could approach “Sideways,” an awards season darling that grossed $71.5 million.

Co-starring in the weekend’s No. 1 and No. 3 movies, actor Greg Kinnear is riding high. He plays ex-Eagles coach Dick Vermeil in “Invincible” and the dysfunctional family’s patriarch in “Little Miss Sunshine.”

Three other new pictures got wide releases on the penultimate summer weekend.

“Beerfest,” a comedy from the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, was flat, placing fourth with a less-than-expected $6.5 million at nearly 3,000 theaters. The performance extended Warner Bros.’ disappointing summer results, although the movie cost only about $12 million to produce.

“Idlewild,” a period musical starring the OutKast duo and Terrence Howard, grossed an estimated $5.9 million to place ninth for Universal Pictures, but it averaged a robust $6,064 at a relatively modest 973 theaters -- the best in the top 10.

New Line Cinema’s “How to Eat Fried Worms,” based on the classic children’s book, finished 11th with $4.1 million at 1,870 theaters.

The studio has had a rough summer with movies whose titles include animal references: Its May release “Hoot” was a huge flop, and last week’s “Snakes on a Plane” failed to live up to its prerelease hype at the box office. “Snakes” fell 58% in its second weekend, bringing its total to $26.6 million -- solid for a late-summer horror film but not the smash some had expected.

Expanding to 144 theaters in its second weekend, Yari Film Group’s “The Illusionist” generated $1.8 million, averaging a potent $12,687 per theater.

That bodes well as the magician mystery starring Edward Norton widens next weekend to 600 to 700 theaters.

Industrywide, ticket sales ran 5.1% ahead of the comparable weekend in 2005, and year-to-date revenue is up 6.8%.

Hollywood’s summer season ends next weekend with three wide releases: Lions Gate’s thriller “Crank,” Warner Bros.’ horror remake “The Wicker Man” and Sony’s urban drama “Crossover.”

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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 Invincible $17.0 $17.0

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 8.0 127.7

Little Miss Sunshine 7.5 23.0

Beerfest 6.5 6.5

Accepted 6.5 21.1

Snakes on a Plane 6.4 26.6

World Trade Center 6.4 55.6

Step Up 6.2 50.4

Idlewild 5.9 5.9

Barnyard: The Original Party Animals 5.4 54.7

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Industry total

*--* 3-day gross Change (in millions) from 2005 $102.0 +5.1%

Year-to-date gross Change (in billions) from 2005 $6.47 +6.8%

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*--* Source: Exhibitor Relations Co. Los Angeles Times

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