Entertainment

'The Messenger' debuts at No. 1 with $14.5M

By TIMES WIRES
Published February 5, 2007

The fright film The Messengers, about a city family that moves into a creepy haunted house in the country, debuted as the top weekend movie with $14.5-million in ticket sales. Opening in second place was Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore's mother-daughter comedy Because I Said So, a Universal release that took in $13-million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Scorsese wins at Directors Guild

Martin Scorsese's long-overdue glory at the Directors Guild of America Awards clearly paves the way for his long-overdue glory at the Academy Awards. Despite Scorsese's win for his epic, bloody mob drama The Departed on Saturday, it still looks as if any of the five films in the best-picture category could take the top prize at the Academy Awards on Feb. 25. The Directors Guild winner has gone on to receive the directing Oscar four out of the past six years. "This is the first time I've been given this recognition," the 64-year-old filmmaker said. "This picture for me started as a genre film, but it was the first picture I've ever done with a plot."

[Last modified February 5, 2007, 11:52:45]