New Gilliam film misses top box office place

Terry Gilliam’s Hollywood comeback was held off the top spot at the US box office by a 40-Year-Old Virgin this weekend, forcing The Brothers Grimm into second place.

The ex-Monty Python’s fantasy starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger as the 19th century fairy-tale siblings, took a lower than expected $15.1m (€12.3m).

The 40-Year-Old Virgin, starring Steve Carell as a middle-aged man who has never had sex, held on to first place for a second consecutive week, taking $16.4m (€13.3m).

Plane thriller Red Eye, Four Brothers and Wedding Crashers each dropped a place to take up the rest of the top five.

Gilliam has not had a film on screen since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was released in 1998.

The Brothers Grimm was on hold for more than a year because of a dispute with Bob Weinstein, head of Dimension Films, over the final version.

Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, said it was a “respectable” opening.

“You can’t underestimate the following that Terry Gilliam has,” he said.

The movie has had mixed reviews, deemed “more coffee table book than a movie” by CNN critic Paul Clinton.