Bond vs penguins in box-office battle of tuxedos

LOS ANGELES, Nov 18 (Reuters) The winner of this weekend's US movie box-office battle is almost guaranteed to be wearing a tuxedo.

''Casino Royale,'' the 21st installment in the venerable James Bond movie franchise, opened yesterday with Daniel Craig making his eagerly awaited debut as agent 007, but experts say the dancing penguins of the computer-animated film ''Happy Feet'' will give him a run for his money at the multiplex.

The contest for bragging rights to the No 1 spot this weekend appeared to be a toss-up, with box-office watchers giving a slight edge to ''Happy Feet,'' which targets family audiences and opens on more screens than Bond.

With an all-star voice cast that includes Robin Williams, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Elijah Wood, the Antarctic adventure is being released in 3,804 North American theaters by Warner Bros Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc.

''Casino Royale,'' distributed by Sony Corp's Columbia Pictures studio, bows in 3,434 North American cinemas.

Both films have drawn overwhelmingly warm reviews. But movies such as ''Happy Feet'' that play to kids and grown-ups alike generally pack greater commercial potential than adult-oriented action fare like ''Casino Royale.'' SQUEEZE IN SCREENINGS The shorter running time for ''Happy Feet'' also allows exhibitors to squeeze in more screenings per day.

Entertainment trade publication The Hollywood Reporter predicted ''Happy Feet'' could reach 50 million dollars in its first three days, with ''Casino Royale'' landing around 40 million dollars.

The film-tracking Web site boxofficemojo.com put ''Casino'' slightly ahead at 47 million dollars, to 43 million dollars for ''Feet.'' ''But I would not be surprised if the penguins beat Bond next weekend and beat it in the long run,'' boxofficemojo analyst Brandon Gray told Reuters.

Gray said a major factor this weekend is the tremendous advance media attention paid to ''Casino,'' which traces the early career of Bond and stars Craig in his first appearance as a grittier 007.

The Bond franchise, one of the most enduring in film history, has grossed some 3.7 billion dollars at the worldwide box office. Craig's immediate successor, Pierce Brosnan, proved the biggest commercial success of all, with each of his films grossing over 300 million dollars worldwide.

Brosnan's last Bond film, ''Die Another Day,'' scored the biggest opening weekend ever for a Bond film exactly four years ago, grossing 47 million dollars in its first three days and going on to rake in more than 430 million dollars globally.

''Bond has the built-in audience, it's hugely hyped and unique in the market,'' Gray said. '''Happy Feet' is not unique in the market. There have been tons of computer-animated features this year, and very few of them have performed above expectations.'' Leading online ticket service Fandango.com showed ''Casino'' leading its advance sales, accounting for 50 per cent of its business yesterday, compared with 28 per cent for ''Happy Feet.'' The big wild card for this weekend's box-office race is the hit comedy ''Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.'' The mock documentary starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as a cluelessly offensive, oversexed TV reporter from Central Asia, was the No 1 film of the past two weeks and is likely to land somewhere in the top five again this weekend.

Reuters DKA RS1042