The warm welcome “Burn After Reading” received at the 2008 Venice
Film Festival apparently was auspicious, as its opening weekend proved a
glorious box office event for directors Joel and Ethan Coen.
Joel and Ethan Coen celebrated their biggest box office hit
some four years ago, with the release of the comedy “The Ladykillers,” starring
Tom Hanks, which raked in a little over $12 million in 2004.
“Burn After Reading,” another black comedy from the filmmaking
brothers, fared even better at the North American box office, with weekend revenues
of $19.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Before this, the Coens had reason to celebrate when “No Country
for Old Men,” a drama based on the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy, earned
$73.3 million and was covered in glory at the Academy Awards, with golden
statuettes for best picture, best adapted screenplay, best director and best
supporting actor (Javier Bardem).
“Burn After Reading” unites a stellar cast and several of
the actors have collaborated with the Coens before: John Malkovich, George
Clooney (who previously starred in “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” “Intolerable
Cruelty”), Frances McDormand (“Blood Simple,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,”
“Fargo”), Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, J. K. Simmons (“The Ladykillers”).
Clooney, Pitt and Swinton have also collaborated in other
movies.
Jack Foley, president of distribution for Focus Features, says
the success of “Burn After Reading” does not mean “the Coens have broken into
more commercial territory” but that “they’ve become more of a household name,”
as quoted by the Associated Press.
Malkovich stars as alcoholic CIA agent Osbourne Cox, who is
demoted and decides to quit his job altogether. He starts writing a memoir of
his life as an agent but the material falls in the hands of his estranged wife
Katie Cox, portrayed by Tilda Swinton.
To make the plot even more exciting, Katie Cox is having an
affair with George Clooney’s character, Treasury agent Harry Pfarrer, and gym
employees Chad (a deliciously dorky Bard Pitt) and Linda (McDormand) concoct a
plan of blackmailing Osbourne for the disk in order for Linda to get enough
money to have cosmetic surgery.
As of Monday, Sept. 15, “Burn After Reading” had a freshness
rating of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 131 reviews.
“Burn After Reading” was not the only new release that fared
well at the box office. “The Family That Preys,” written and directed by Tyler
Perry, a drama starring Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard, debuted at No. 2 with
ticket sales worth $18 million.
Steve Rothenberg, president of domestic distribution for
Lionsgate, said he expected the film to perform well over the following weeks.
Moviegoers had plenty of A-list casts to choose from this
weekend in theaters, as Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino faced each other on screen
in “Righteous Kill,” an Overture Film production which opened at No. 3 with
$16.5 million.
This is the third film to feature DeNiro and Pacino,
following 1974’s “The Godfather Part II” (where they did not actually appear in
any scenes together) and 1995’s “Heat.”
Picturehouse’s “The Women,” starring Meg Ryan, Annette
Bening, Eva Mendes and Jada Pinkett Smith in a remake of George Cukor’s 1939
drama of the same name, which in turn was based on a play, placed fourth with
$10.1 million.
The top four spots at this weekend’s box office were all
newcomers. The films rounding up the top ten each earned less than $4.5
million, with this summer’s history-rewriting blockbuster “The Dark Knight”
adding another $4 million at No. 7.
