Scorsese film mobs chainsaw-wielding maniac
Martin Scorsese's mob saga "The Departed" debuted as the weekend's top movie with $27 million, muscling out the horror prequel "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning."
It was a record opening for Scorsese, whose previous best was $10.3 million with 1991's "Cape Fear." Scorsese's films usually debut in narrower release and gradually roll out to more theaters, but Warner Bros. decided to launch "The Departed" in wide release of 3,017 cinemas.
"I think the cast was the deciding factor and the playability of the movie," Warner distribution chief Dan Fellman said of the film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson in a blood-soaked epic about moles infiltrating the Boston police and a crime gang.
"We had a special film here. We had the cast to drive it that way, and it worked out well," Fellman said.
New Line Cinema's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" prequel, examining the roots of maniac killer Leatherface and his cannibalistic family, pulled in $19.15 million in its first weekend. The movie had a $16 million production budget.
The previous weekend's top film, Sony's animated comedy "Open Season," fell to No. 3 with $16 million, raising its 10-day total to $44.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The weekend's other new wide release, Lionsgate's workplace comedy "Employee of the Month" with Jessica Simpson, Dane Cook and Dax Shepard, debuted in fourth place with $11.8 million.
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