'Live Free or Die Hard' and 'Ratatouille' Score at the Box Office

Bruce Willis as wry smiling John McClane in 20th Century Fox's "Live Free or Die Hard". (Courtesy 20th Century Fox)

Bruce Willis' "Live Free or Die Hard" earned $48.2 million in its first five days. The fourth episode of 20th Century Fox's action series, predictably skewed towards older males. The action-packed flick enjoyed a 20 percent bump from Friday to Saturday, indicating strong word of mouth; rodent film "Ratatouille," a Pixar cartoon revolving around a Parisian rat named Remy who dreams of gourmet stardom, by contrast, rose 3 percent.

"Ratatouille" sold $47.2 million worth of tickets during its first three days, taking the No. 1 slot ahead of "Live Free or Die Hard", it was the lowest opening for a Pixar-produced release since "A Bug's Life".

However, with a sizzling 95% approval rating on rottentomatoes.com, and the New York Post proclaiming "Ratatouille" as "arguably the finest 'toon in the Pixar canon," perhaps the word-of-mouth factor will bring in the numbers later for Pixar.

'Live Free Or Die Hard" earned a 77% approval rating on rottentomatoes.com, with the LA Times raving, "Live Free or Die Hard gets the action job done and you better believe that Bruce is still the man."

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