Biggest US opening ever for Luc Besson – TAKEN grabs up 24% Saturday and finishes with $24.6M for Super Bowl weekend; PAUL BLART: MALL COP strong at #2 while THE UNINVITED appears headed for 3rd with a possible $10.5M; Zellweger's NEW IN TOWN may reach $6.75M opening; Not much of an "Oscar bounce" for THE READER and MILK!

Liam Neeson is officially a full-fledged action star. The Irish-born actor has often played heroes, whether it was Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece Schindler’s List, the wise Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace or determined sex researcher Alfred Kinsey in 2005’s biopic Kinsey, Neeson has always had a knack for playing the earnest-but-flawed good guy. In his new movie Taken (Fox), writer/producer Luc Besson and director Pierre Morel have turned him into a Dad with the “mad skills” of a super-spy – think Mike Brady crossed with Jason Bourne.

The result is a well-reviewed (56% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) action film that will help to satisfy blockbuster-hungry audiences waiting for Warner Bros’ Watchmen (due March 6). Taken has scored big on its opening weekend. After grabbing an estimated $9.4M, the movie surged on Saturday to $11.62M (up almost 24% from opening day) and, despite today’s Super Bowl, the film could reach $24.62M according to studio estimates. That will be more than enough to win the Super Bowl 3-day, and positive word-of-mouth could get this one into the $70M-$75M range domestic.

Taken re-teams French action maestro Besson with director Morel, who previously worked together on the brilliant District B13 ($411K opening – $1.2M in the US – $6.9M in France). For the prolific Besson, this movie marks the all-time best US opening for one of his films.

ALL-TIME BEST DOMESTIC OPENINGS FOR LUC BESSON FILMS

– as producer, writer and/or director –

1. Taken (producer/writer) – $24.62M opening (projected)

2. The Fifth Element (writer/director) – $17M opening – $63.8M domestic

3. Transporter 2 (producer/writer) – $16.5M opening – $43M domestic

4. Kiss of the Dragon (producer/writer) – $13.3M opening – $36.8M domestic

5. Transporter 3 (producer/writer) – $12M opening – $31.7M domestic

6. The Transporter (producer/writer) – $9.1M opening – $25.2M domestic

7. Point of No Return (writer) – $7.1M opening – $30M domestic

8. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (producer/writer/director) – $6.3M opening – $14.2M domestic

9. The Professional (producer/writer/director) – $5.3M opening – $19.5M domestic

10. Arthur & the Invisibles (producer/writer/director) – $4.3M opening – $15.1M domestic

Besson has a tremendous international following, and Taken was already a hit before it ever opened in the US. The movie has already been released in many overseas territories, generating $68.8M in 2008. That includes $11.2M in the UK and $9.4M in France. With international numbers like that, it’s not a huge surprise that the picture is working so well in the states.

The irrepressible Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) is headed for a #2 finish for the weekend. The Adam Sandler-produced comedy sold another $4.2M in tickets on its third Friday, and Kevin James has ridden that dopey Segway to another strong 3-day of about $14M. By Monday morning, PB:MC will have banked a stellar $83M.

In 1998, Hollywood discovered a Japanese film called Ringu, and they have been remaking Asian horror films ever since. Director Gore Verbinski turned the get-under-your-skin creepy Ringu into an American version called, simply, The Ring, and that 2002 movie starring Naomi Watts grossed a spectacular $129M.

The latest Asian horror adaptation is The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount), based on the 2003 South Korean thriller Janghwa, Hongryeon (released in the US as A Tale of Two Sisters). The movie was a sensation in Korea where it remains the all-time highest-grossing horror film, and now Elizabeth Banks (W.) and David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck) headline the American version. After grabbing a decent $4.3M to start the weekend, The Uninvited got a 9% Saturday bump, and it will likely finish the weekend in third-place with $10.51M.

That is slightly disappointing given the performance of some other recent Asian horror remakes. (Note these are all based on Japanese films with The Uninvited being the first South Korean adaptation.)

2002 – The Ring – $15M opening – $129.1M cume

2004 – The Grudge – $39.1M opening – $110.3M cume

2005 – The Ring Two – $35M opening – $76.2M cume

2005 – Dark Water – $9.9M opening – $25.4M cume

2006 – The Grudge 2 – $20.8M opening – $39.1M cume

2006 – Pulse – $8.2M opening – $20.2M cume

2008 – One Missed Call – $12.5M opening – $26.9M cume

2008 – The Eye – $12.4M opening – $31.4M cume

2009 – The Uninvited – $10.51M opening (projected)

In final studio estimates, Hotel for Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) has managed a surprise fourth-place finish with $8.7M for a new cume of $48.2M. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl has pushed Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino (Warner Bros) to #5 with $8.6M. Walt Kowalski has now growled his way to an amazing $110.5M cume.

Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) has received a nice boost from and its 10 Oscar nominations, adding another $7.58M. This micro-budgeted movie ($14M) which almost went straight to video when Warner bros didn’t quite know what to do wth it has grossed a staggering $67M. Also this weekend, director Danny Boyle has won the ultimate Oscar bellweather, the DGA award, and that may seal the deal for Best Picture and Best Director at the upcoming Academy Awards.

The other new wide release is the horribly-reviewed New In Town (Lionsgate), starring Academy Award winner Renee Zellweger. The romantic comedy that makes sport of small town America opened soft, but it could have been worse. The movie coaxed about $2.4M on Friday (#7 for the day), and Lionsgate says the movie will finish the weekend with $6.75M, enough for eighth place. That number marks only the eighth-best opening of Zellweger’s career.

ALL-TIME BEST RENEE ZELLWEGER OPENINGS

– non-animated –

1. Me, Myself & Irene – $24.2M opening

2, Cinderella Man – $18.3M opening

3. Jerry Maguire – $17M opening

4. Cold Mountain – $14.5M opening

5. Leatherheads – $12.6M opening

6. Bridget Jones’s Diary – $10.7M opening

7. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason – $8.6M opening

8. The Bachelor – $7.4M opening

9. Nurse Betty – $7.1M opening

10. New In Town -$6.75M opening (projected)

There is not much of an Oscar bounce for the current crop of Best Picture nominees. Stephen Daldry’s The Reader (Weinstein) and Milk (Focus) starring Sean Penn are the last two of the big five to go wide, and neither film has scored big.

The Reader, which has Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress: Kate Winslet, Best Director: Daldry, Best Adapted Screenplay: David Hare and Best Cinematography, expanded to 1,002 locations on Friday and could only muster $700,000. That should project to about $2.37M or so for the 3-day and a new cume of $12.64M.

Meanwhile, the Gus Van Sant-directed Milk, which some pundits believe may be peaking with Academy voters at just the right time, will not be a box office juggernaut. Despite 8 Oscar nominations, Milk managed only a $471 Per Theatre Average on Friday on 882 screens. The first wide weekend for the Harvey Milk biopic will likely yield only $1.41M for a new domestic cume of $23.41M.

In all, the five Best Picture nominees, now all in wide release, have combined for less than $17M for the weekend. By Monday, the five movies contending for Hollywood’s biggest prize have a combined total domestic gross of just $234M. I am projecting that Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader will finish with a total of about $285M in US ticket sales, which would be the second-worst total of the last 15 years.

For example last year, the five Best Picture nominees grossed a combined $357M, so the 2009 crop will be down a full 20% from 2008. Snubbing movies like The Dark Knight and Gran Torino, Academy voters have narrowed the field to what amounts to a very expensive arthouse movie (Benjamin Button), a surprise crowd-pleaser (Slumdog Millionaire) and three niche art titles with very specific audiences (Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Reader). When the ratings for the Oscar telecast are dismal, the Academy will have its own voters to blame.

The worst combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees in the last 15 years was in 2005 when Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night & Good Luck and Munich generated $245M at the box office. That resulted in the all-time third-worst television rating for the Academy Awards broadcast.

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY FRIDAY ESTIMATES

1. NEW – Taken (Fox) – $9.4M, $2,953 PTA, $9.4M cume

2. NEW – The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $4.3M, $1,834 PTA, $4.3M cume

3. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) – $4.2M, $1,310 PTA, $73.57M cume

4. Gran Torino (Warner Bros) – $2.6M, $862 PTA, $104.54M cume

5. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Sony) – $2.55M, $867 PTA, $28.13M cume

6. NEW – New in Town (Lionsgate) – $2.4M, $1,236 PTA, $2.4M cume

7. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) – $2.3M, $1,630 PTA, $61.86M cume

8. Hotel For Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $2M, $633 PTA, $41.52M cume

9. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) – $1.5M, $1,067 PTA, $41.84M cume

10. Bride Wars (Fox) – $1.25M, $630 PTA, $51.61M cume

11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) – $1.1M, $517 PTA, $114.02M cume

12. Inkheart (Warner Bros) – $975,000, $367 PTA, $10.06M cume

13. Revolutionary Road (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $850,000, $789 PTA, $14.22M

14. Defiance (Paramount Vantage) – $775,000, $466 PTA, $21.07M cume

15. The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) – $730,000, $1,011 PTA, $11.46M cume

16. The Reader (Weinstein) – $700,000, $699 PTA, $10.97M cume

17. Notorious (Fox Searchlight) – $590,000, $546 PTA, $33.9M cume

18. Frost/Nixon (Universal) – $425,000, $385 PTA, $13.33M cume

19. Milk (Focus Features) – $415,000, $471 PTA, $22.39M cume

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY 3-DAY ESTIMATES

1. NEW – Taken (Fox) – $24.62M, $7,736 PTA, $24.62M cume

2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) – $14M, $4,367 PTA, $83.37M cume

3. NEW – The Uninvited (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $10.51M, $4,485 PTA, $10.51M cume

4. Hotel For Dogs (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $8.7M, $3,160 PTA, $48.22M cume

5. Gran Torino (Warner Bros) – $8.6M, $2,852 PTA, $110.54M cume

6. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) – $7.68M, $4,703 PTA, $67.24M cume

7. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Sony) – $7.2M, $2,447 PTA, $32.78M cume

8. NEW – New in Town (Lionsgate) – $6.75M, $3,478 PTA, $6.75M cume

9. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (Lionsgate) – $4.26M, $3,030 PTA, $44.6M cume

10. Inkheart (Warner Bros) – $3.7M, $1,394 PTA, $12.79M cume

11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) – $3.61M, $1,698 PTA, $116.54M cume

12. Bride Wars (Fox) – $3.57M, $1,798 PTA, $53.93M cume

13. Revolutionary Road (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $2.65M, $2,469 PTA, $16.03M

14. Defiance (Paramount Vantage) – $2.53M, $1,524 PTA, $22.83M cume

15. The Reader (Weinstein) – $2.37M, $2,369 PTA, $12.64M cume

16. The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) – $2.35M, $3,255 PTA, $13.08M cume

17. Notorious (Fox Searchlight) – $1.7M, $1,574 PTA, $35M cume

18. Milk (Focus) – $1.41M, $1,603 PTA, $23.41M cume

19. Frost/Nixon (Universal) – $1.39M, $1,265 PTA, $14.31M cume

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