”Interpreter” debuts with strong message

Looks like Ashton Kutcher can keep his pants on.

The former model had made a bet that he would do a Calvin Klein underwear ad campaign if his new movie, “A Lot Like Love,” topped the weekend box office.

Instead, “The Interpreter,” an espionage thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, was No. 1 with $22.8 million, while “A Lot Like Love” finished fourth with a disappointing $7.7 million.

“The Amityville Horror” took in $14.2 million in its second weekend, good for second place, while the Matthew McConaughey action-adventure “Sahara” was third with $9 million.

“Kung Fu Hustle” was fifth with $7.3 million in its first weekend of wide release.

The weekend’s other new release, “King’s Ransom” with Anthony Anderson – so bad that it was not screened in advance for critics – was No. 10 with $2.4 million.

“The Interpreter,” the first movie shot at the United Nations, drew an unusually mature crowd: About 60 percent of the audience was 35 and older, according to distributor Universal Studios.

“We didn’t bother marketing the film on MTV,” says Nikki Rocco, Universal’s distribution chief. “We knew that adults were going to be drawn to this more than the kids.”

Rocco says that, after months of romantic comedies and horror movies, audiences were ready for espionage.

“It was time for a serious movie,” she says.

It apparently was not time to see Kutcher with straws up his nose.

The actor, who has made a name with goofball humor on TV series like “That ‘70s Show” and “Punk’d” and with films such as “Dude, Where’s My Car?” could not lure many besides women younger than 25. They made up 66 percent of the audience for “A Lot Like Love.”

Kutcher lacks the credibility with older audiences that’s needed for most successful romantic comedies, says Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com.

His other romantic comedies, including “Just Married” and “My Boss’s Daughter,” did middling business.

“Right now, he’s stronger as an ensemble actor, bringing in younger people for movies like ‘Guess Who’ and ‘Cheaper by the Dozen,’ ” Pandya says.

“If he wants to cross over into more adult movies, he’ll need to follow Matt Damon’s footsteps and try something like a ‘Bourne Identity’ – something without comedy that would let people see his range.”

Overall, the box office continued its two-month slide. Ticket sales dipped behind last year’s pace for the ninth straight weekend.

But the industry’s summer season of explosions and special effects unofficially begins on Friday with “XXX: State of the Union “and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

Such big titles as “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” “Kingdom of Heaven” and “The Longest Yard” are due in May.

“There hasn’t been that breakout picture the public’s jumping to see yet, but it’ll happen. It’s just around the corner,” said Chuck Viane, Disney head of distribution.