‘Cars’ marks Disney-Pixar’s third biggest opening

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Cars,” the latest animated feature
from newly merged Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios,
zoomed into first place at North American theaters with weekend
ticket sales of $62.8 million, but failed to do as well as some
industry experts expected.

It was Disney-Pixar’s third-biggest weekend debut and the
team’s seventh straight hit. While the movie did better than
Deutsche Bank’s forecast of a $60 million opening, it failed to
meet other estimates which projected “Cars” would match or
exceed the $70 million generated by “The Incredibles” and
“Finding Nemo” — Disney-Pixar’s top-grossing films.

“People were thinking it would do about what ‘Nemo’ or ‘The
Incredibles’ did. I still say it’s a solid opening,” said
Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. President Paul Dergarabedian,
whose box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
released the studio estimates on Sunday.

Dergarabedian added that “Cars,” a heavily marketed film
whose star is a talking race car named Lightning McQueen, is
competing for the family audience with animal cartoon “Over the
Hedge,” which had weekend receipts of over $10 million.

Chuck Viane, Disney’s president of distribution, expects
“Cars” to cross the $100 million line sometime next weekend.

“I think we’re going to have legs,” said Viane, who added
that international distribution has been delayed until the
completion of the World Cup soccer championship on July 9.

“Cars,” featuring the voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman,
Bonnie Hunt and racing icon Richard Petty, is the first
Disney-Pixar collaboration since Disney acquired Pixar in
January for $7.4 billion.

The feature, which is rated G for all ages, tells how
Lightning McQueen learns valuable life lessons during a forced
pit stop in a sleepy town. It is directed by John Lasseter,
whose “Toy Story 2″ opened at $57.4 million.

“The Incredibles,” which chronicles the adventures of a
superhero family, opened at $70.5 million. Fish tale “Finding
Nemo” opened at $70.3 million and went on to become the
highest-grossing Disney-Pixar film ever, reeling in more than
$865 million worldwide.

Last week’s leader “The Break-Up,” a surprise hit romantic
comedy starring real-life couple Jennifer Aniston and Vince
Vaughn, took the No. 2 spot with its Friday-to-Sunday gross of
$20.5 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

X-MEN CROSS THE LINE

“X-Men: The Last Stand,” the Marvel comics fantasy film
starring Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry, finished the weekend at
No. 3 with $15.6 million, lifting its cumulative tally to
$201.7 million and making it the first film of the year to
break the $200 million mark.

News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox released horror film “The
Omen” on the date 6-6-06 and set a record for the most money
collected by a movie with a Tuesday debut.

The remake is about a boy named Damien Thorn, who is a
spawn of the devil and branded with the number 666 — which
Christianity refers to as the mark of the devil. The movie
scared up an opening weekend take of $15.5 million.

“Over the Hedge,” from Disney-Pixar arch rival DreamWorks
Animation SKG Inc., fell from third place to fifth with $10.3
million over the weekend to edge out “The Da Vinci Code,” which
slipped to No. 6.

The total domestic box office tally for “Over the Hedge”
climbed to $130.3 million, while “The Da Vinci Code,”
distributed by Columbia Pictures, has piled up $189 million in
domestic receipts.

On the independent front, director Robert Altman’s “A
Prairie Home Companion,” brought in $4.7 million from 760
theaters for a seventh-place weekend finish.