‘Mexico’ shoots its way to No. 1

The bullet-riddled action drama “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” marked another notch on director Robert Rodriguez’s holster, topping the box office with an estimated $24 million over the weekend. But Sofia Coppola’s ultra low-key “Lost in Translation” proved a bigger eye-opener with an impressive per-theater weekend average of $39,180 in its limited initial release in 23 theaters. Its total was an estimated $901,143.

“Mexico” further solidified Johnny Depp’s status as a top box office draw, following his success in one of this summer’s highest-grossing pictures, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

“Lost,” Coppola’s second feature as director, which stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, likely benefited from rave reviews as well as features in several national publications.

At Pacific’s ArcLight theater in Hollywood alone, “Lost” brought in an estimated $10,000 on Friday night and doubled to $20,551 on Saturday night, according to Jack Foley, head of distribution for Focus Features, the Vivendi Universal unit that helped finance the film.

It marks yet another turn in “Saturday Nigh Live” alum Murray’s film career, which took off in the early 1980s with such comedy classics as “Caddyshack” and “Stripes,” and went on to box office glory with the 1984 hit “Ghostbusters.” Coppola, a sometime actress who also has modeled and designed clothing, has enjoyed better reception as a director, with her first feature, “The Virgin Suicides,” grossing a modest $4 million in 2000 but demonstrating her promise behind the camera.

Among major releases, “Mexico” was far ahead of the competition, with Warner Bros.’ “Matchstick Men,” coming in at No. 2 with an estimated $13.3 million. “Mexico” is the third-largest September opening, behind last year’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” which debuted at $35 million, and 1998’s “Rush Hour,” which grossed $33 million in its first weekend.

Sony, which has domestic distribution rights on “Mexico” (Miramax has international), focused its marketing campaign on Depp, who plays a CIA agent hunting a ruthless drug lord, and on Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas -- even though Hayek has very little screen time.

“Mexico” is the third installment of Rodriguez’s contemporary westerns, which began with his low-budget “El Mariachi.” “Mexico,” which cost approximately $29 million and a little less to market, has already brought in nearly as much as the entire run of “Desperado,” which grossed $25 million in 1995.

“Mexico” also is Rodriguez’s nod to the late Italian director Sergio Leone, who helmed the classic westerns “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and the immigrant saga, “Once Upon a Time in America” -- although “Mexico” failed to live up to those films’ critical acclaim.

In other openings, Lions Gate Films’ horror movie “Cabin Fever” took in an estimated $8.5 million on 2,087 screens. The Japanese animated picture “Millennium Actress” brought in an estimated $18,000 in six locations. The film, directed by Japan’s Satoshi Kon, was acquired by Go Fish Pictures, the new specialty-film distribution arm of DreamWorks SKG.

Adrien Brody’s “Dummy” grossed an estimated $35,000 on five screens. The Artisan picture, which was released only in New York and Los Angeles, will expand to additional markets in the next couple of weeks.

This weekend’s box office was a significant increase from last weekend’s anemic showing. The current top 10 pictures grossed an estimated $70.8 million, a 53% surge from last week and a 2% increase ahead of last year, when “Barbershop” was the No. 1 film, according to box office tracking firm Nielsen EDI Inc.

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Box Office

Preliminary results based on studio projections.

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total (millions)

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*--* Once Upon a Time in Mexico $24.0 $24.0

Matchstick Men 13.3 13.3

Cabin Fever 8.5 8.5

Dickie Roberts (Former) Child Star 5.0 12.8

Pirates of the Caribbean 4.6 288.0

Freaky Friday 4.1 102.0

Jeepers Creepers 2 3.0 31.8

Open Range 2.8 53.6

S.W.A.T 2.8 112.9

Seabiscuit 2.7 113.6

*--*

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Source: Nielsen EDI Inc.

Los Angeles Times