Silent Hill Draws in Moviegoers

Source: Comingsoon.net

TriStar Pictures' Silent Hill topped the box office with an estimated $20.2 million from 2,926 theaters. Directed by Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) and written by Roger Avary, the film stars Radha Mitchell as a mother who has to search for her daughter in an eerie and deserted ghost town. Hill is based on the popular Konami video game. Sony's TriStar paid $14 million for the rights to distribute the movie in North America, and will break even in the mid-$20 million range.

Last week's champ, Dimension's Scary Movie 4, dropped 57.7% in ticket sales and to the second spot, adding $17 million for a two-week total of $67.7 million. The fourth installment in the spoof comedy franchise cost about $45 million to make.

Fox thriller The Sentinel, starring Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria and Kim Basinger, debuted in the third spot with $14.7 million from 2,819 theaters.

The studio's Ice Age: The Meltdown dipped two spots in its fourth weekend to fourth place, earning another $12.8 million for an impressive total of $167.9 million domestically so far. The animated-comedy sequel was made for $80 million.

Disney's less-successfull The Wild rounded out the top five with $8.1 million, dropping just 16.9% in sales. The animated film, also made for $80 million, has collected $21.9 million in two weeks.

Sony comedy The Benchwarmers earned $7.3 million in its third weekend and is up to $47.1 million total.

Another wide release, Universal's American Dreamz, didn't receive much interest from moviegoers as it opened in the eighth spot with just $3.7 million from 1,500 theaters.