‘Click’ Passes ‘Cars’ in Theaters

Adam Sandler has never been a darling of the critics, but he keeps clicking with moviegoers.

His “high-concept” comedy “Click” grossed an estimated $40 million over the weekend in the U.S. and Canada to become the star’s eighth No. 1 opener, Sony Pictures estimated Sunday.

“Click,” the story of a man whose magical remote control ends up controlling his universe, bounced Walt Disney Co.’s animated feature “Cars” from its perch after two weekends atop the box-office derby.

Just a few months shy of his 40th birthday, the former “Saturday Night Live” star is proving he can still pull in filmgoers a fraction of his age. “Click” looks sure to become Sandler’s seventh movie to gross more than $100 million during its run.

The simple, accessible story line helped draw a broad audience, said Rory Bruer, Sony’s president of domestic distribution. “It’s a really good story for Adam,” Bruer said. “Adults and kids alike can relate to the concept.”

Bruer said 86% of audience members rated the film “excellent” or “very good” in the studio’s exit surveys, which bodes well for its performance in the coming weeks. The demographics were evenly split, with 51% of the audience female and 50% younger than 25.

From “The Wedding Singer” and “The Waterboy” in 1998 through last summer’s “The Longest Yard,” Sandler has established a reliable comedy brand with his quirky everyman shtick.

His best opening weekend came last May, when “The Longest Yard” grossed $47.6 million, and his top overall success was “Big Daddy,” which took in $163.5 million during its 1999 run.

Although critics were chilly to “Click” -- as they have been for most of Sandler’s movies -- the actor has usually been review-proof. His rare flops include “Little Nicky,” which opened at $16.1 million and grossed $39.5 million in 2000.

Sandler’s longtime collaboration with Sony has paid off for both.

Four of the star’s $100-million hits were released by the studio -- “Big Daddy,” “50 First Dates,” “Mr. Deeds” and “Anger Management” -- and Sony was a partner in Paramount Pictures’ “The Longest Yard.”

“Click” is Sony’s seventh No. 1 opener so far this year, as the studio continues to snap back from disappointing results in 2005.

The weekend’s other new wide release, Focus Features’ “Waist Deep,” generated a better-than-expected $9.5 million, averaging $9,414 per location. Tyrese Gibson stars in the urban thriller, which opened at No. 4.

“Cars” came in at No. 2 in its third weekend, grossing an estimated $22.5 million. The animated film made by Pixar, the animation studio Disney acquired this spring, dropped a relatively modest 33% from the previous weekend, bringing its total gross to $155.9 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Among major films in their second weekends, Paramount Pictures’ “Nacho Libre” grossed an estimated $12.1 million, Universal Pictures’ “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” took in $9.2 million, Warner Bros.’ “The Lake House” racked up $8.3 million and 20th Century Fox’s “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties” mustered $4.8 million.

The latest “The Fast and the Furious” installment had the steepest falloff, at 62%, while “The Lake House” and the “Garfield” sequel both held up well, declining less than 40%.

After issuing estimates Sunday based mainly on their Friday and Saturday results, the studios will release their official weekend totals today.

Industrywide, ticket sales were up from the previous year for the sixth straight weekend and the 13th weekend in the last 14. Box-office revenue reached an estimated $4.4 billion, up 4.5% year to date, according to Exhibitor Relations Co.

The competition heats up this week with Warner Bros.’ “Superman Returns,” directed by Bryan Singer, coming Wednesday. And 20th Century Fox’s couture comedy “The Devil Wears Prada,” starring Meryl Streep, will be out Friday.

The following weekend brings Disney’s sequel “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which, like “Superman Returns,” is expected to be among the year’s blockbusters.

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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 Click $40.0 $40.0

Cars 22.5 155.9

Nacho Libre 12.1 52.7

Waist Deep 9.5 9.5

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift 9.2 42.6

The Lake House 8.3 29.2

The Break-Up 6.1 103.7

Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties 4.8 16.0

X-Men: The Last Stand 4.4 224.1

The Da Vinci Code 4.0 205.5

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Industry total

*--* 3-day gross Change (In millions) from 2005 $134.0 +5.3%

YTD gross Change (In billions) from 2005 $4.4 +4.5%

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*--* Source: Exhibitor Relations Los Angeles Times

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