American gangsters Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe squelched Jerry Seinfeld and took the top spot at the U.S. movie box office opening weekend. According to Reuters, "American Gangster" came in with $46.3 million in three days, and Seinfeld's "Bee Movie" came in second place with $39.1 million. Each surpassed not only the expectations of their distributors but also easily beat out the actors' personal bests: Washington's "Inside Man" with $29 million and Crowe's "Gladiator" with $34.8 million.
Both movies were just what was needed to revitalize what has been a sluggish fall movie season. Total sales were up about 11 percent (approximately $143 million) from a year ago, and total revenues are up about 6 percent (approximately $8 billion), according to tracking firm Media By Numbers.
The previous weekend's box office champion, horror film "Saw IV," was shunted off to the side with a distant $11 million on its first weekend, now taking its place at third.
Universal, the distributor for "American Gangster," had been crossing its fingers, hoping the movie would open with more than $40 million despite the risks it was taking with its lengthy 157-minute running time, restrictive "R" rating and gritty subject matter. However, according to Universal Pictures, the risks were well worth it because the film was the second highest-grossing R-rated movie over 150 minutes, trailing "Troy" (2004) starring Brad Pitt by about $500,000. It was second only to "300," which raked in $70.9 million, for the highest launch of the year for an R-rated movie.
Universal also said "American Gangster" was the highest-grossing film in its gangster genre, exceeding "Sin City"'s $29 million and "The Departed"'s $27 million.
