Russell Crowe is top gun at box office..
With the superior fire power of Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, the Western 3:10 to Yuma was the big shot at the weekend box office in North America, according to studio estimates.
Yuma, a remake of a 1957 Western about a struggling rancher's bid to bring an outlaw to justice, sold A$17 million worth of tickets in its first three days, said the film's distributor, Lionsgate.
Crowe, who plays vicious outlaw Ben Wade, has spent the last few years in the wilderness, following the disappointing performance of the 2005 drama Cinderella Man, which was also viewed as Oscar bait. The boxing drama opened to $22 million, which was distinctly better than the $4.5 million start for his romantic comedy A Good Year the following year.
The studio said it hoped for an opening for Yuma above $12 million, and noted that the film's main demographic, male moviegoers over the age of 25, does not traditionally rush out to see a movie in its first weekend. This augurs well for its performance in coming weekends, Lionsgate said.
3:10 to Yuma falls in the latter category, according to Lionsgate, which said it was planning "a very aggressive" campaign in the long run to the Academy Awards on February 24. Critics overwhelmingly praised the film, which was directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line).
Bale, playing the one-legged rancher Dan Evans, is more of an art-house mainstay with such recent pictures as The Prestige and Rescue Dawn. He is best known for his role as the Caped Crusader in Batman Returns, which in 2005 opened to $59.6 million.
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