Gangster movie shoots to No. 1

Hollywood snapped out of its fall funk in high style as the star wattage of Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Jerry Seinfeld lured audiences to their local multiplexes over the weekend.

Universal Pictures’ critically acclaimed crime thriller “American Gangster,” starring Washington as a maverick 1970s drug lord and Crowe as the New York cop hunting him down, pulled in an estimated $46.3 million in ticket sales, the studio said Sunday.

Seinfeld’s whimsical, computer-animated family adventure “Bee Movie,” from studio DreamWorks Animation SKG and distributor Paramount Pictures, was a solid No. 2, grossing about $39.1 million. Last weekend’s top-grossing film, the horror sequel “Saw IV,” placed No. 3 with about $11 million after plunging 65% in its second weekend.

“The audience for ‘Gangster’ was very diverse and liked what it saw,” said Nikki Rocco, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “I’ve seen it four or five times, and it’s just one of those movies where you always get something different out of it.”

For studios and theater owners, the one-two punch of “American Gangster” and “Bee Movie” came none too soon. Overall box-office receipts rose from the same period in 2006 for the first time in seven weekends, according to research firm Media by Numbers, reversing a trend brought on by a parade of serious, downbeat political dramas.

Rocco said moviegoers were intrigued by the pairing of Washington and Crowe, as well as director Ridley Scott’s gritty filmmaking style and a true-life story that few had known about.

The R-rated “American Gangster” scored this fall’s top opening, the biggest launches ever for its two stars and the strongest premiere for a picture in the crime genre (although Hollywood records are not adjusted for inflation).

It looks almost certain to eventually eclipse last fall’s “The Departed,” which grossed $132.4 million domestically in its full run -- tops for the crime film category.

Heading into the weekend, analysts had predicted a neck-and-neck tussle between “American Gangster” and “Bee Movie,” similar to November 2006 when the animated, dancing penguins of “Happy Feet” edged out the James Bond thriller “Casino Royale.”

In quirky Seinfeld fashion, “Bee Movie” tells the story of a disillusioned bee who sues the human race for swiping the honey the insects produce.

Although some Wall Street analysts had expected the PG-rated “Bee Movie” to open a bit higher, Anne Globe, DreamWorks Animation’s head of worldwide marketing, said the film came in toward the upper end of the studio’s own projections and played to families and nonfamilies alike.

“It feels like we’re igniting the holiday season,” Globe said.

Globe said the movie -- which Seinfeld helped write, produce, voice and promote -- was set up for a strong November and December box-office run.

Although reviewers were more gaga for “American Gangster,” Globe noted that both films scored solid B-plus ratings in audience exit polls from the service CinemaScore.

She also said “Bee Movie” got off to a promising start overseas, grossing $2.7 million in Russia and $542,000 in Ukraine. Analysts will be closely watching the film’s international performance as it rolls out over the next six weeks, in part because of Seinfeld’s image as a comedian with a mostly domestic following.

As expected, “American Gangster” skewed older: an estimated 50% of the audience was age 30 or older, Universal said. About 44% of ticket buyers were white and 36% African American.

Among lower-profile releases vying for attention in the crowded marketplace, director Sidney Lumet’s heist picture “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” averaged a solid $9,300 per theater for distributor ThinkFilm after expanding to 43 locations in its second weekend.

For the industry to build on its rebound this coming weekend, the holiday-themed comedy “Fred Claus,” starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, will probably need to open successfully for Warner Bros.

Friday’s other high-profile wide release, filmmaker Robert Redford’s political drama “Lions for Lambs,” represents a mammoth marketing challenge for the revamped United Artists and distributor MGM, despite co-starring Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep along with Redford. Audiences have stayed away in droves from other serious films exploring war and U.S. foreign policy.

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josh.friedman@latimes.com