Chinese language - Will Ferrell does victory lap at box office

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Will Ferrell does victory lap at box office
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-07 17:10



Will Ferrell took the checkered flag at the weekend box office in North
America with his new comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Talladega Nights" was
expected to earn around $47 million for the three days beginning August
4. The tally consists of actual data for Friday and Saturday, and an
estimate for Sunday; final data will be issued on Monday.

The movie, which cost about $72 million to make, marks the second biggest
opening for a non-sequel comedy, behind Jim Carrey's 2003 hit "Bruce
Almighty" with $68 million.

It also scores a new record for Ferrell, surpassing the $31.1 million bow
of his 2003 smash "Elf."

"Talladega Nights" was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony
Corp. Thanks to a lineup highlighted by the worldwide blockbuster "The Da
Vinci Code," the studio said it was on track to cross the $1 billion mark
at the domestic box office by midweek, becoming the first to achieve that
feat this year.

The market share crown is currently held by Walt Disney Co. , the firm
behind "Cars" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

"Talladega Nights" stars Ferrell as a goofball driver on the NASCAR
circuit, headlining a cast that also includes John C. Reilly and British
comic Sacha Baron Cohen, a.k.a. "Ali G." It was directed and co-written
by Adam McKay, who previously worked with Ferrell on the comedy
"Anchorman." Ferrell promoted the movie on such shows as CNN's "Larry
King Live" and NBC's "The Tonight Show" dressed as Ricky Bobby.

Paramount Pictures' animated feature "Barnyard" opened at No. 2 with $16
million, exceeding diminished industry expectations a week after Warner
Bros' cartoon "The Ant Bully" bombed with an $8.4 million opening.
Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc., expects its relatively economical $50
million film to play strongly through the rest of summer.

Third spot went to the biggest movie of the year so far, "Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," with $11 million; the total for Disney's
pirate romp rose to $379.7 million after five weekends.

Last weekend's leader, Universal Pictures' "Miami Vice," slid to No. 4
with $9.7 million after losing 64 percent of its audience. Most big films
usually lose between 50 and 60 percent in their second weekends. The
10-day total for director Michael Mann's $135 million crime drama rose to
$45.7 million. Universal is a unit of General Electric Co.'s NBC
Universal Inc.

The low-budget British thriller "The Descent," about a group of
terrorized female spelunkers, opened at No. 5 with $8.8 million, in line
with the expectations of its distributor, Lionsgate. The unit of Lions
Gate Entertainment Corp. said the film would be "very profitable."



















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