BBC News Online: Entertainment: Film

US box office rallies

Hardball has a tear-jerker twist in the story

Cinemas were relatively empty on Friday as many Americans watched events on television news, but on Saturday cinema audiences returned.

"A lot of people wanted an escape," said Rob Friedman, vice-chairman of Paramount, which made the chart-topping Hardball.

The film tells the story of a down-and-out gambler goaded into coaching an inner-city youth baseball team.

According to advance figures by Exhibitor, which tracks film earnings, the melodrama opened at number one in the US box office, taking $10.1m (£6.84m).

That is almost equal to the opening that martial arts adventure The Musketeer made last week.

Overall, the weekend box office returns were about 42% higher than at the same time last year, $54.1m (£36.6m) compared to $37.8m (£25.6m).

The Musketeer fell back to third place with $5.3m (£3.5m) behind another newcomer, The Glass House.

This psychological thriller stars Leelee Sobieski and took $6.1m (£4.1m).

Exhibitor president Paul Dergarabedian said that there had been "fear and apprehension" about the effects of the tragedy on the industry.

He was relieved that there had not been an adverse affect.

"Movies have always been a great diversion and relief for people," he added.

In fourth place - up from last week's fifth position, was The Others, starring Nicole Kidman, which took £4.8m (£3.2m)

The romantic comedy Two Can Play That Game came in fifth, earning an estimated $4.7m (£3.1m) in its second week.

The film stars Vivica A Fox as a vindictive girlfriend.