Midweek debuts bring in the bucks

“I’m back,” Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-101 announces well into the action of “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” and indeed he’s made a smashing reappearance in more ways than one.

Warner Bros. reported Thursday that “T3” took in $12,435,320 in 3,355 theaters on its official opening day Wednesday. With just over $4 million tallied from Tuesday night previews, the movie had taken in $16.4 million as of the close of business Wednesday. “T3” will be in 3,505 theaters today.

Undaunted by mechanized muscle, pink-clad Reese Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde” tallied $9.1 million in 3,350 theaters, MGM reported.

Wednesday’s other major debut, DreamWorks’ “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas,” posted a low $1.5 million in 3,086 theaters, which indicates the traditionally animated film is in for rough sailing amid heavy competition. Disney and Pixar’s “Finding Nemo,” by comparison, took in $2.1 million Wednesday near the end of its fifth week, grossing $261.2 million to date.

The Wednesday figure for “T3” is slightly higher than the $11.7 million, including previews, that “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” took in on its opening Wednesday, July 2, 1991.

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R. Kinsey Lowe