January 2000

Disappointed that Down to You opened to less than half of She's All That's $16.1 million last year, Miramax overestimated the teen comedy's opening by a wide margin. They said it grossed $8.3 million for the top spot, when it actually made $7.6 million for second place behind Next Friday's $8 million. They say that it just took a bigger hit than they expected on Sunday. I don't buy that excuse. For the picture to have matched their estimate, it would have had to drop just 23% on Sunday (see the Daily Box Office), absurdly unrealistic. Based on the time of year and patterns of other teen comedies such as She's All That, their estimated drop should have been more in the 50% range. Perhaps they were trying to save some face by at least having everyone think they had the #1 picture.

At any rate, it is a bit of surprise that it didn't open better, given that it's been a while since the last teen comedy and that it looked almost as bad as She's All That. Perhaps the awkward title and the college setting alienated high schoolers. It would be nice, though, if it were a sign that this particularly pernicious strain of teeny-bopperism is waning.

Meanwhile, Next Friday plunged 45% to $8 million, good enough for #1 over the slow weekend. The drop was expected since it's both a sequel and a niche picture. Still, with $31.8 million grossed, it has already surpassed the original's $27.4 million, and with a production budget of just $9.5 million, it will be quite profitable.

The Hurricane went wider, going from 1,454 to 2,101 theaters, yet it still dropped 28%. Not a good sign for its longevity. The total stands at $22.9 million after four weeks.

Angela's Ashes was the only expansion to see even modest success. Going from 6 to 610 theaters, it garnered $3.2 million. It averaged $5,275, decent considering that its older skewing demographic is not the type to rush out to the theaters on the opening. However, with a reported production budget of $45 million, it won't likely reach the black.

Prior to going wide, Play It to the Bone played at one theater in L.A. for four weeks where it grossed a miniscule $26,270. Expanding to 1,556 theaters, it fared almost as poorly, grossing $3.4 million despite a more aggressive ad campaign.

Other expansions included The End of the Affair. It went from 92 to 686 theaters this weekend and managed only $1.7 million, bringing its total to $5.1 million. The Ralph Fiennes-Julianne Moore starrer averaged a meager $2,415. Cradle Will Rock fared even worse in its expansion from 56 to 506 theaters, grossing just $593,899 for an average of $1,174. The total for the Tim Robbins-directed drama stands at $1.9 million, and will end up deep in the red as it reportedly cost $32 million to make.

Overall box office totaled $82.2 million, down 36% from last weekend and down 3% from the same frame last year when Varsity Blues topped the chart with $10.6 million.

Next Friday is a good day for Ice Cube. He didn't even have to use his AK to take out the competition. The sequel opened to $16.9 million over the holiday weekend. Playing at just 1,103 theaters, it averaged a whopping $15,338. With $21.5 million made since its opening last Wednesday, it will likely surpass the $27.4 million that the original made by Friday.

The long delayed Supernova bombed as sci-fi pictures dumped in January always do. The troubled $75 million production opened to just $6.7 million from 2,280 theaters. MGM knew it wouldn't do well as they wrote it off as a loss in their books last year.

The Hurricane successfully expanded from 159 theaters to 1,454, grossing a solid $10.5 million. Girl, Interrupted went wide and performed surprisingly well, scoring $9.3 million.

Stuart Little and The Green Mile again had strong weekends, grossing $12.5 and $8.8 million respectively. Both also surpassed the century mark tallying $109.6 and $102.8 million respectively and making them the 18th and 19th pictures of 1999 to do so, a record number for one year.

Any Given Sunday plummeted to $5.5 million, down 37%, and it didn't even lose any theaters. Most likely it was the direct competition from Next Friday.

Overall box office totaled $128 million, up 27% over last weekend and up 2% over the same period last year when Varsity Blues topped the chart with $17.5 million.

Stuart Little reclaimed the top spot in the final weekend of 1999. Enjoying a 36% boost during the traditionally family dominated frame, the talking mouse grossed $16 million, a million more than it did on its opening. Its total stands at $79.4 million and could end up being profitable despite its hefty $103 million price tag.

Disney took the holiday off, so the actuals for their pictures were delayed. Toy Story 2 was up 20%, edging out The Talented Mr. Ripley for second place, both making about $12.4 million. Story's cume rose to a stunning $208.9 million after just 45 days. Ripley was down 3% from its two-day Christmas gross. Not a good sign for its longevity, but its 9-day total stands at a strong $39.8 million.

The Green Mile rose an impressive 27% to $11.8 million and a $76.7 million total, the best bump-up for a non-family wide release. As expected, Man on the Moon suffered the biggest drop, down 28% to $5.4 million. The total stands at a paltry-by-Jim-Carrey-standards $24.6 million after 12 days.

Meanwhile, Fantasia 2000 opened on Saturday and grossed $2.3 million, a record for IMAX. It averaged a whopping $42,417 from 54 theaters. It also simultaneously bowed overseas to further stunning results as it roused $842,000 from 21 screens in 14 markets.

Overall box office totaled $112.3 million, up 12% over last weekend but down 5% over the same frame last year when Patch Adams topped the chart with $19.1 million.