Young men power "Resident Evil" at box office

By Gregg Kilday

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Summer might be over, but the threequels keep coming. This past weekend Sony's "Resident Evil: Extinction" opened in the top spot at the North American box office with ticket sales of $23.68 million, a record for the franchise, according to final data issued Monday.

In doing so, the Milla Jovovich zombie thriller vaulted ahead of the original "Resident Evil," which debuted with $17.7 million in March 2002, and squeezed ahead of "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," which grabbed $23 million in September 2004.

Predictably, the movie drew a crowd of rabid, younger males. According to CinemaScore's polling of the opening-weekend audience, 55% were younger than 25 and 65% were males. The audience was a tough sell, though, and awarded the movie a grade of B-minus.

Pulling into the No. 2 spot for the weekend was Lionsgate's comedy of dating errors, "Good Luck Chuck," starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba. The raunchy film attracted $13.65 million.

Universal's "Sydney White," the weekend's third new wide release, paled by comparison. The college comedy starring Amanda Bynes, fresh off the success of "Hairspray," finished in sixth place with just $5.20 million.

A week after opening in limited release, Focus Features' London-set crime drama "Eastern Promises" took the No. 5 spot with $5.64 million.

The previous weekend's champ, the Jodie Foster revenge drama "The Brave One," slipped to No. 3 with $7.31 million; the 10-day total for the Warner Bros. release rose to $25 million.

In its third weekend, Lionsgate's Western "3:10 to Yuma" was close behind, notching $6.16 million, which brought its total to $37.72 million.