Ferrell comedy 'Semi-Pro' stumbles at box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Will Ferrell stumbled at the North American box office on Sunday with his latest sports comedy, the basketball spoof "Semi-Pro."

The movie narrowly took the No. 1 spot with disappointing ticket sales of $15.3 million, its struggling distributor New Line Cinema said.

The $57 million film marks an inauspicious swan song for the studio, which is being absorbed by its Time Warner Inc corporate sibling, Warner Bros. Pictures, after a series of costly duds.

Industry observers had expected "Semi-Pro" to open above $20 million, but it was hurt by a restrictive "R" rating, which requires viewers under 17 to be accompanied by an adult. Ferrell's last two big sports comedies, 2007's "Blades of Glory" and 2006's "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," carried a teen-friendly PG-13 rating.

Ferrell, 40, plays the flamboyant owner of a fictional underdog team in the American Basketball Association, the renegade league taken by the National Basketball Association in the 1970s.

Last weekend's champion the political thriller "Vantage Point," starring Dennis Quaid, slipped to No. 2 with $13 million. The 10-day total for the Columbia Pictures release rose to $41 million.

Paramount Pictures' children's book adaptation "The Spiderwick Chronicles" fell one to No. 3 with $8.8 million, giving it a three-week haul of $55.1 million.

"The Other Boleyn Girl" opened at No. 4 with $8.3 million, at the high end of Columbia's expectations. Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman star in the bodice ripper about two sisters seduced by Henry VIII, with disastrous consequences.

The only other new release in the top 10 was Summit Entertainment LLC's "Penelope," starring Christina Ricci as a young woman with a pig's nose. It earned just $4 million, tying at No. 8 with Miramax Films' "No Country For Old Men," last Sunday's best picture Oscar winner.

Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. Miramax is a unit Walt Disney Co. Summit is privately held.