Weekend Box Office

The big news of the weekend was Stuart Little. The talking mouse was, surprisingly, the top choice of families over Toy Story 2 and Robin Williams. It grossed $15 million from 2,878 theaters, and business should be strong through the holidays. With a reported production budget of at least $103 million though, it might not ever get out of the red for Sony. Still, for it to make so much in a weekend that saw two high profile disasters is some kind of a victory.

Bicentennial Man also had a reported budget of around $100 million. But it opened to just $8.2 million from 2,518 theaters, suggesting that sentiment towards Williams' touchy-feely flicks was even lower than expected. For the most part, his biggest hits, like Mrs. Doubtfire and Patch Adams, have come during the holidays. The only time he had a picture open lower at this time of year was 1992's Toys ($4.8 million).

Anna and the King was a stunning failure, grossing just $5.2 million from 2,132 theaters. Since it cost a reported $75 million to produce, this puts it deep in the red. A sign of people's lack of interest was that every time Jodie Foster appeared on talk and entertainment shows to promote the movie, all the hosts seemed to care about was whether or not she was going to do The Silence of the Lambs sequel or not.

The Green Mile dropped just 29% to $12.7 million, totaling $36.7 million after two weeks. Toy Story 2 grossed $12.1 million, down 34%, the same as last weekend. The total stands at $156.4 million after just four weeks, and business will likely improve significantly over the holidays. Deuce Bigalow held up better than expected, dropping just 32% to $8.3 million.

Overall box office totaled $81.2 million, up 5% over last week and up 2% over the same weekend last year when You've Got Mail topped the chart with $18.4 million.