Universal’s ‘Bruno’ Opens No. 1 With $30.4 Million (Update2)

July 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Sacha Baron Cohen comedy “Bruno” opened as the top film at theaters in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend with $30.4 million in ticket sales for distributor NBC Universal.

The film toppled “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” which had held first place for two weeks, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in an e-mailed statement. “Transformers,” from Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures, was third with $24.2 million, bringing the movie’s domestic total so far to $339.2 million.

The sales provided a boost to Universal Pictures, which ranked last among the six major studios in 2009 ticket sales with $604.3 million as of July 9, according to Box Office Mojo LLC, which also tracks receipts. “Bruno” is the second Universal film to open in first place this year after “Fast & Furious.”

“There is an indication that ‘Bruno’s’ stay will be short- lived,” said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo in Sherman Oaks, California, who cited “a significant rush of fans the first day and not so much the day after.”

In “Bruno,” Baron Cohen takes on the persona of the gay Austrian fashion commentator created for his television program “Da Ali G Show.” The film cost about $42 million to produce, according to the Internet Movie Database, a film-industry Web site owned by Amazon.com Inc.

‘Ice Age’

The reality-based comedy includes interviews with unwitting participants, including U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, and gags involving Bruno’s assistant, Lutz. The film was forecast to have sales of about $40 million, the estimate of Gitesh Pandya, editor of New York-based Box Office Guru LLC.

Baron Cohen’s 2006 film “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” was made for $18 million and took in $260 million worldwide, according to the IMDB.com. The film made $26.5 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, according to IMBD.

News Corp.’s 3-D “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur” retained its second-place ranking for the weekend, selling $28.5 million in tickets, according to Hollywood.com Box-Office. The animated film is the second sequel to the 2002 “Ice Age” and follows the new adventures of pre-historic animals, including mammoths, a sloth and a saber-toothed tiger.

‘Beth Cooper’

The movie has earned $120.6 million since its July 1 release, Hollywood.com Box-Office said. The first two “Ice Age” films produced combined sales of $371.7 million in the U.S. and Canada and $1.04 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Coming in fourth for the week was the Johnny Depp gangster drama “Public Enemies,” also from Universal, which reported $14.1 million in receipts. Year-to-date the film has made $66.5 million domestically.

Finishing fifth this weekend was Walt Disney Co.’s romantic comedy “The Proposal,” with $10.5 million. Sandra Bullock stars as an executive facing deportation to her native Canada.

“I Love You Beth Cooper,” from News Corp.’s Twentieth Century Fox, debuted in seventh place with $5 million in sales.

Sales for the top 12 films this weekend fell to $135.8 million, down almost 5.6 percent from a year earlier, Hollywood.com Box-Office said. Year-to-date receipts rose 11 percent to $5.68 billion compared with a year earlier, Hollywood.com said. Attendance is up 8.7 percent this year.

The following table has figures provided by studios to Hollywood.com Box-Office. The amounts are based on actual ticket sales for July 10, yesterday and estimates for today.

                      Rev.            Avg./   Pct.  Total
Movie                 (mln) Theaters Theater  Chg.  (mln)  Wks
==============================================================
1 BRUNO              $30.4    2,756  $11,040    --    30.4   1
2 ICE AGE: DINOSAURS  28.5    4,102    6,948   -32   120.6   2
3 TRANSFORMERS        24.2    4,293    5,637   -43   339.2   3
4 PUBLIC ENEMIES      14.1    3,336    4,230   -44    66.5   2
5 THE PROPOSAL        10.5    3,158    3,327   -18   113.8   4
6 THE HANGOVER         9.9    3,002    3,308   -12   222.4   6
7 I LOVE YOU BETH      5.0    1,858    2,691    --     5.0   1
8 UP                   4.7    2,201    2,115   -29   273.8   7
9 MY SISTER’S KEEPER   4.2    2,444    1,710   -28    35.8   3
10 TAKING OF PELHAM    1.6    1,116    1,434   -37    61.5   5
11 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 1.5      854    1,786   -25   170.6   8
12 STAR TREK           1.1      763    1,481   -36   251.9  10


Top 12 Films Grosses
   This Week     Year Ago      Pct.
     (mln)         (mln)       Chg.
===================================
    $135.8        $143.8       -5.6


Year-to-date Revenue
     2009          2008
      YTD           YTD        Pct.
     (mln)         (mln)       Chg.
===================================
    $5,679        $5,105      +11.2

Year-to-date Attendance:      +8.7%

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite@bloomberg.net; Sharon L. Lynch in New York at sllynch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sylvia Wier at swier@bloomberg.net.