Spielberg protege leads box office with thriller

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-04-16 08:41

This photo provided by Paramount Pictures shows Shia LaBeouf in a scene from 'Disturbia.' Movie-goers put the Peeping Tom thriller under strong surveillance as the film took in $23 million to debut at the top of the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday, April 15, 2007. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures/Suzanne Tenner)

LOS ANGELES - Spying on the neighbors paid off handsomely at the North American box office for Shia LaBeouf, the former Disney child star being groomed by Steven Spielberg as the next big thing.

LaBeouf, 20, is the star of "Disturbia," a low-budget version of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" for teens, which opened at No. 1 with three-day ticket sales of $23 million, distributor Paramount Pictures said on Sunday. It's about a teen who becomes convinced his neighbor is a serial killer.

After two weeks at No. 1, the Will Ferrell comedy "Blades of Glory" slipped to No. 2 with $14.1 million over the weekend and a total haul of $90.2 million.

Two other films opened in the top 10 with disappointing results: the Halle Berry-Bruce Willis thriller "Perfect Stranger" at No. 4 with $11.5 million and the period action adventure "Pathfinder" at No. 6 with $4.8 million.

The studios are taking advantage of a lull in business to unload films with modest aspirations before the summer blockbuster season begins on May 4 with "Spider-Man 3."

Both "Disturbia" and "Blades of Glory" were produced for Paramount by DreamWorks, the studio co-founded by Spielberg.

DreamWorks has now opened at No. 1 with its last three movies, beginning the run in February with the Eddie Murphy comedy "Norbit." Next up is the July 4 release "Transformers," an action movie also starring LaBeouf.

Spielberg plucked the former star of the Disney Channel TV series "Even Stevens" from relative obscurity after seeing him in the teen movie "Holes."

In addition to backing him for "Disturbia" and "Transformers," he also hired LaBeouf to play Harrison Ford's son in the fourth "Indiana Jones" film, which Spielberg will direct in the summer.

"Disturbia," which also stars David Morse as the apparently malignant object of scrutiny, cost about $20 million to make, and box office forecasters had expected it to open in the high teens. Exit polling indicated three-quarters of the audience was aged under 35, and 57 percent was female.

Paramount and DreamWorks are units of Viacom Inc.

"Perfect Stranger" stars Berry as a former reporter who goes undercover in a bid to expose Willis' character as a killer. Columbia Pictures had hoped its critically assailed movie would open in the mid-teens. For Berry, it represents yet another headlining failure, following 2004's "Catwoman" and 2003's "Gothika." The film did, however, open at No. 1 during the weekend in Spain, France and Taiwan, the Sony Corp. said.

"Pathfinder," a violent epic in the vein of box office smash "300," stars "Lord of the Rings" actor Karl Urban as a mixed-race Native American who battles cruel Vikings. It was released by News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox.

"300," meanwhile, has earned $405 million at the worldwide box office, split evenly between North America and international markets, said Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc.

After a disappointing opening last weekend, the Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez gorefest "Grindhouse" plunged six places to No. 10 with $4.2 million. The retro double-feature has earned $19.7 million, having cost $53 million to make.

A spokeswoman for the Weinstein Co., the closely held nascent studio that made the films, did not respond to a request for comment.

1. "Disturbia," $23 million.

2. "Blades of Glory," $14.1 million.

3. "Meet the Robinsons," $12.1 million.

4. "Perfect Stranger," $11.5 million.

5. "Are We Done Yet?", $9.2 million.

6. "Pathfinder," $4.8 million.

7. "Wild Hogs," $4.6 million.

8. "The Reaping," $4.6 million.

9. "300," $4.3 million.

10. "Grindhouse," $4.2 million.