American Gangster squashes bees at Box Office
Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES—Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe overcame a swarm of bees to take top spot at the weekend North American movie box office with “American Gangster,” a true-life crime saga that set a number of records.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, “American Gangster” sold $46.3 million worth of tickets during its first three days, while Jerry Seinfeld’s heavily marketed animated “Bee Movie” opened at No. 2 with $39.1 million. Both figures surpassed the expectations of the films’ respective distributors.
Last weekend’s champion, the horror movie, “Saw IV,” fell to a distant No. 3 with $11.0 million, taking its 10-day haul to $51.1 million. The top-10 contained one other new release, the John Cusack drama “Martian Child,” which opened at No. 7 with just $3.65 million.
The one-two punch of “American Gangster” and “Bee Movie” helped the box office end a six-week losing streak. Total sales were up about 11 percent over the year-ago weekend to $143 million, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers. Year-to-date, revenues are up about 6 percent to $8 billion, thanks mostly to higher ticket prices since the number of moviegoers is up just 1 percent, the firm said.
“American Gangster,” a $100 million project that took producer Brian Grazer seven years and three directors to bring to the big screen, stars Washington as a Harlem drug lord and Crowe as the honest cop who brings him down. Praised by critics, it was directed by Sir Ridley Scott, who succeeded original choice Antoine Fuqua and then Terry George.
The film’s distributor, General Electric Co.’s Universal Pictures, had hoped it would open above $40 million, but there were some risks, including its lengthy 157-minute running time, restrictive “R” rating meaning children under 17 must be accompanied by an adult and gritty subject matter.
In fact, Universal said it was the second highest-grossing R-rated film over 150 minutes, coming in about $500,000 behind Brad Pitt’s 2004 movie “Troy.”