Evolution captures audience attention

By Joshua Tyler Jan 23, 2006, 2:54 GMT

The sequel to the $100 million worldwide hit, "Underworld: Evolution" continues the saga of war between the aristocratic Death Dealers and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves). The film traces the beginnings of the ancient feud between the two tribes as Selene (Kate Beckinsale), the beautiful vampire heroine, and Michael (Scott Speedman), the lycan hybrid, try to unlock the secrets of their bloodlines. The fast-paced, modern-day tale of deadly action, ruthless intrigue ...more

Say goodbye to that 2005 box office slump. 2006 is shaking it off early. 'Underworld: Evolution' opened this weekend to capture number one unopposed with a staunch $27.6 million take. That's enough to make the R-rated vampire versus werewolf sequel the fourth biggest January opening, behind the special edition releases of the original 'Star Wars' trilogy, 'Black Hawk Down', and 'Along Came Polly'. Last year's biggest January opening was 'Coach Carter', a movie which only managed $24.1 million.

That also makes 'Underworld: Evolution' a bigger hit than the original movie which spawned it. When 'Underworld' opened in 2003, its initial weekend take was only $21.8 million. Of course the sequel has nearly double the production costs to deal with, making it pretty important for distributor Sony that it continue to outpace its predecessor.

The weekend's only other new wide release was the almost unadvertised Christian missionary movie 'End of the Spear'. It clocked in at number eight with $4.7 million and looks to be headed for a quick exit from theaters.

Last week's dueling number ones each fell a spot. 'Glory Road' won the top spot last week during the three day weekend, but the computer animated comedy 'Hoodwinked' took number one over the four day weekend, holiday totals. This week both dropped a spot. 'Hoodwinked' came in at number two with $11 million while 'Glory Road' came in a bit behind it at $9.1 million.

Heavily buzzed Oscar contender 'Brokeback Mountain' continued its slow climb up the charts this weekend as it trickled into a few more theaters. The film is now playing in wide release across the country, and in response it hopped up the charts to capture number five with a $7.8 million total and a $6,548 per-screen-average.

$6,548 is a solid number, but only the third best per-screen of the week. 'Underworld 2' was second with $8,606 while top honors were owned by the politically charged limited release 'Why We Fight', opening in only 6 theaters and achieving $9,666 per-screen. That's the kind of attendance Albert Brooks was probably looking for. His mocumentary 'Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World' also rolled out in limited engagements, but fell flat on its face with an underwhelming $2,826 per-screen.

Hanging around in 'Brokeback Mountain's' shadow is Terrence Malick's new movie 'The New World'. Like 'Brokeback', this was 'The New World's' first chance at a truly wide release. However with less Oscar buzz and less positive critical praise, 'New World's' 800 theaters were only enough to earn it $4.7 million and a trailing spot at number ten.

Here's a more detailed look at the early estimates for this weekend's top ten earners here in the United States: