Al Pacino still a BO draw

Al Pacino, 62, has once again proved he can draw significant audiences to his movies.

The Recruit, the thriller starring Pacino and rising star Colin Farrell, 26, narrowly beat Final Destination 2 at the North American box-office over the weekend. Pacino's Insomnia, which also featured Robin Williams, g

grossed an impressive $110 million worldwide last year, though the satirical Simone bit the dust.

The heavily promoted Recruit grossed $16.5 million, while Final Destination 2, the follow up to the surprise slasher hit which grossed about $100 million worldwide three years ago, took about $16.2 million.

The road adventure Biker Boyz, with an African American cast led by Laurence Fishburne, opened to a mediocre $10 million. The sex comedy The Guru, which opened on 62 screens in 10 cities, grossed an impressive $640,000; the movie will add more screens this Friday.

The low budget thriller Darkness Falls, No 1 last week, tumbled to No 5 with $7.5 million and a $22 million total. The ghost story revolves around a young man who returns home to confront his troubled past and save his sweetheart and her younger brother from an evil that has plagued the town for about 15 decades. Made for about $12 million, the movie, which is expected to gross $35 million, could recoup its cost next weekend.

The family audience film, Kangaroo Jack, which is hopping steadily, earned $9 million and reached $45.8 million gross.

Though many critics saw The Recruit as yet another drama starring Pacino as a mentor, following the likes of Scent of a Woman for which he won an Oscar a decade ago, audiences showed they had a good appetite for an interestingly made Pacino movie.

Pacino plays a CIA recruiter and mentor, and Farrell his eager student, who is plagued by self-doubt especially when he is ordered to unravel a mole in the organisation.

Despite graphic scenes of violence, Final Destination 2 drew a good number of women. The movie, which plays a clairvoyant woman against the grim reaper, revolves around a rush to save the life of an unborn child.

As in the case of most low budget horror movies, the new Destination film too got predominantly bad reviews. 'A sequel to the most obscure movie ever to make $50 million,' noted Entertainment Weekly, 'Final Destination 2 opens with a horrific traffic accident, which seems apt since what follows is the cinematic equivalent of rubbernecking.'

Among older movies still drawing significant numbers of viewers, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers  grabbed $5 million and reached $315.9 million and passed its predecessor in 2001. The movie is expected to end its American run with about $340 million.

Chicago, the pulsating musical drama about subversion of justice and a publicity hungry media, had yet another strong week with a $7 million gross from just about 623 theaters. The Recruit, on the other hand, is in 2,376 theatres. Its gross reached $50 million gross. The musical will go very wide next Friday, reaching 2,000 movie houses. Expect the film to dance to the very top next weekend.