LOS ANGELES -- "Bringing Down the House" brought down big box office numbers.
The comedy starring Queen Latifah and Steve Martin took in $31.7 million to debut as the weekend's No. 1 film, according to studio estimates Sunday. It was the third-biggest March opening ever, behind the 2002 releases "Ice Age" and "Blade 2," and the strongest opening ever for a Martin film.
The Bruce Willis war movie "Tears of the Sun" took in $17.2 million to open at No. 2.
"Bringing Down the House" follows Latifah as an escaped convict who worms her way into the affluent suburban home of an uptight attorney played by Martin and the uproar that follows. The film was panned by critics but drew huge audiences, thanks in part to strong marketing by Disney.
"This is just one of those outrageous comedies where people love to sit back and be entertained and laugh," said Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution.
The grim "Tears of the Sun" stars Willis as a Navy SEAL who takes his squad to rescue a doctor (Monica Bellucci) from a war zone in Nigeria. "I don't have to tell you that it's interesting to have a war film out at this time but it appears people really wanted to see it," Sherak said.<
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