Reviews for Nic Cage's comic book hero flick Ghost Rider could fairly, and glibly, be described as flaming awful. But American audiences have said, "Fie on thee, critics" – or whatever it is that kids say these days – and big fat gone and seen it anyway. The long delayed film about a stunt rider who sells his soul in order to save his love and winds up fighting crime with a flaming skull for a head (bummer) took $44.5million over the three day President's Day weekend, making it the biggest taking ever for that particular holiday and the biggest opening of Nic Cage's career.
Also performing well was kiddy fantasy flick Bridge To Terabithia, which hauled in an impressive $22.1million. The only other major entry in the top ten was the Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore rom-com Music and Lyrics, which managed to scrabble together a relatively meagre $14million.
And, lo, yonder came the chart.
1
Ghost Rider
$44,500,000
$44,500,000
1
2
Bridge To Terabithia
$22,075,000
$22,075,000
1
3
Norbit
$16,802,000
$58,884,000
2
4
Music And Lyrics
$14,000,000
$14,000,000
1
5
Daddy's Little Girls
$12,100,000
$12,100,000
1
6
Breach
$10,371,000
$10,371,000
1
7
Hannibal Rising
$5,465,000
$22,127,000
2
8
Because I Said So
$4,990,000
$33,248,000
3
9
The Messengers
$3,800,000
$30,509,000
3
10
Night At The Museum
$3,700,000
$237,333,000
9