LOS ANGELES - The killer of the "Saw'' franchise may be dead, but his sadistic spirit lives on.
Lionsgate's "Saw IV'' led the weekend box office with US$32.1 million, maintaining the horror franchise's position as a Halloween perennial, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Debuting at No. 2 was Disney's "Dan in Real Life,'' a romance starring Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook that took in $12.1 million.
Overall, Hollywood revenues declined for the sixth consecutive weekend, though business was off only a fraction compared with the same weekend last year. The top 12 movies took in $86.1 million, down two per cent from last year but still better than in other recent weeks when the drop in business was significantly greater.
The results for "Saw IV'' were on par with the debut of "Saw III,'' which pulled in $33.6 million over the same weekend last year. Since the original low-budget "Saw'' became an out-of-nowhere fright sensation in 2004, Lionsgate has released a new chapter each October, all hits.
"I would expect to see `Saw V' next year, `Saw VI' the year after that and `Saw VII' the following year if they can keep it up,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
"There's just something inherently gruesome and compelling about these movies. I don't know what that says about society in general, but it certainly works at the box office.''
"Saw IV'' features post-mortem horrors concocted by the fiendish killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell, seen in flashbacks), whose autopsy turns up a cassette tape in his entrails that leads the cops into a new snare of torture puzzles the madman left behind.
"Dan in Real Life'' was the prime choice for the date crowd. The movie stars Carell as a widower raising three daughters who falls for his brother's new girlfriend (Binoche) during a family reunion.
In narrower release, Roadside Attractions' "Bella'' opened solidly with $1.3 million. The film stars Eduardo Verastegui as a former soccer player who hooks up with a pregnant waitress (Tammy Blanchard).
Thinkfilm's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead,'' directed by Sidney Lumet ("Dog Day Afternoon,'' "Network''), opened strongly in limited release at two New York City theatres with $73,500.
The film, which gradually expands into North American release through November, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke as brothers in financial straits who plot to rob their parents' jewelry store.
A high-profile documentary, Sony Pictures Classics' "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains,'' had a poor debut, taking in just $10,573 at seven theatres. The film from director Jonathan Demme ("The Silence of the Lambs'') follows the former president during a tour to promote his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.''
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures, all in U.S. dollars, will be released Monday.
1. "Saw IV,'' $32.1 million.
2. "Dan in Real Life,'' $12.1 million.
3. "30 Days of Night,'' $6.7 million.
4. "The Game Plan,'' $6.3 million.
5. "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?'', $5.7 million.
6. "Michael Clayton,'' $5 million.
7. "Gone Baby Gone,'' $3.9 million.
8. "The Comebacks,'' $3.45 million.
9. "We Own the Night,'' $3.4 million.
10. "Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas,'' $3.35 million.
