Clooney's football comedy bombs at box office

LOS ANGELES, April 6 (Reuters) - George Clooney suffered a bruising tackle at the North American box office on Sunday as his new football comedy "Leatherheads" failed to dislodge the gambling drama "21" from the top spot.

"Leatherheads" kicked off its disappointing run at No. 2 with $13.5 million for the three days beginning Friday, said its distributor, Universal Pictures.

"21" logged a second weekend at No. 1 with three-day sales of $15.1 million, enjoying a stronger-than-expected hold, said Columbia Pictures.

Some rival studios thought Universal's estimate was too generous, by upward of $1 million, placing "Leatherheads" at No. 3 below the new Jodie Foster family adventure "Nim's Island," which reported $13.3 million. Final data will be issued on Monday.

Universal, a unit of General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), had hoped "Leatherheads" would open in the mid-teen millions range. But it was stymied by poor reviews and a storyline that appealed to older moviegoers, a demographic that does not rush out on opening weekend. More than half of the audience was aged 40 and older, the studio said. The movie cost about $58 million to make.

Clooney, 46, directed and starred in "Leatherheads," a farce set in the early days of American professional football. He claims he also rewrote much of the script but his request for credit was denied by the Writers Guild of America. Clooney resigned from the guild as a voting member in protest.

Critics have savaged the film, particularly the script. According to Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com), a Web site that aggregates reviews, only 36 percent of top critics liked the film.

After 10 days, "21" has earned $46.5 million, and should end up in the $70 million range, said Columbia, a unit of Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) (SNE.N: Quote, Profile, Research). It cost about $35 million to make.

"Nim's Island," released by News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 20th Century Fox, met the studio's expectations. The $37 million, based on Wendy Orr's 2002 novel, stars Abigail Breslin as a girl who lives on a remote volcanic paradise. (Reporting by Dean Goodman; editing by Bill Trott)