Going to town with ‘Village’

With an estimated take of $50.8 million, M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village” delivered Disney’s best debut of the year by far, more than double the biggest of its previous 2004 openings, “Miracle” ($19.4 million).

Relishing the break in a streak of disappointments, Disney execs also pointed out the figure was a company best for a movie opening in July, surpassing even the $46.6-million first weekend for last year’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

The weekend’s other major new movie, Jonathan Demme’s well-reviewed remake of “The Manchurian Candidate,” came in third behind the returning “The Bourne Supremacy,” but the politically topical film’s estimated $20.2-million gross is roughly on a par with other films starring Denzel Washington, whose best opening came this year with “Man on Fire” ($22.8 million).

The Saturday boost of roughly 31% for “Manchurian” suggests the film is benefiting from positive word of mouth.

The unenthusiastically reviewed “The Village” endured nearly a 14% drop in business from Friday to Saturday, however, according to tracking website Boxofficemojo.com. The only other movie in the top 15 films with a Saturday decline was “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” (off about 11%).