The Departed - Trailer

[DudeAsInCool]

The big movie opening this weekend is The Departed, Martin Scorcese's mob film South Boston, starring

Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. Watch the trailer HERE. Love to have your feedback if you see the movie

[KiwiCoromandel]

Scorsese's The Departed leads US box office....

Martin Scorsese's first contemporary crime drama in 11 years blew away its rivals at the weekend box office in North America and scored the best opening in the director's career.

The Departed, a cops versus criminals saga starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, sold $US27 million worth of tickets in its first three days, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said today.

New at No. 2 was the low-budget horror The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning with $US19.2 million, about $US9 million less than its 2003 predecessor.

Last weekend's champion, the wildlife cartoon Open Season, slipped to No. 3 with $US16 million. The comedy Employee of the Month, starring Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook, opened at No. 4 with $US11.8 million.

The Departed, a $US90 million remake of the Hong Kong drama Infernal Affairs, marks Scorsese's best opening since his remake of Cape Fear, which started with $US10.2 million in 1991. His most recent film, 2004's The Aviator, was the highest-grossing of his career, earning $US102 million. It started with $US8.6 million during its first weekend of wide release.

His last modern-day crime saga, Casino, opened with $US9.9 million in 1995 and finished with $US42.5 million.

Nicholson plays a Boston crime boss whose organization is infiltrated by a mole (DiCaprio) even as he plants a rat (Damon) inside the Boston Police Department.

Carnage results, but there is also "a lot of comic relief," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic theatrical distribution at Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc..

Reviews were enthusiastic, and Warner Bros. said the film played strongly across age and gender lines. Exit surveys showed that 74 percent of people definitely recommended the film. The industry standard is 55 percent, Fellman said.

Corporate sibling New Line Cinema released "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning," the latest film descended from the gory 1970s horror.

The $US16 million film focuses on the early days of Leatherface, the killer with a penchant for farm machinery. The franchise was resurrected in 2003 with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which started with $US28 million and went on to gross $US80.5 million.

"Employee of the Month" revolves around the rivalry between two employees at a warehouse store (Cook, Dax Shepard) for the coveted monthly prize. Simpson plays a well-endowed new staffer with a penchant for sleeping with the title holder. Its $11.8 million opening was within industry expectations. The film was released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. "Open Season," about the exploits of a pampered bear (voiced by Martin Lawrence) released in the wilderness during hunting season, has earned $44.1 million after 10 days. The film is "proving to be a family favorite during a time when nothing else really exists" for family audiences, said a spokesman for distributor Columbia Pictures. Additionally, the Sony Corp. unit expected business to remain strong on Monday thanks to the Columbus Day holiday in the United States and Thanksgiving in Canada.

source:reuters

images:blogs.allocine.fr/www.wnyt.com/boston globe