Roberts Beats Tarnished 'El Dorado' at Box Office
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Julia Roberts and her ``Erin Brockovich'' alter
ego held off another slew ofnewcomers to win the North American box office derby for the third consecutive weekend.
Meanwhile, Oscar glory boosted ticket sales for five-time winner ``American Beauty'' by 44 percent to an
estimated $5.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period. The picture jumped one spot to No. 6.
At the top of the weekend's charts, ``Erin Brockovich'' earned about $14.2 million, a 23 percent fall from last weekend. Its 17-day total stands at $76.2 million. The movie is based on the true exploits of a brassy single mother (Roberts) who gets a job at a law firm, stumbles upon a case of water contamination by a California utility and wins a record
$333 million settlement for the victims (with the lawyers taking a reported $133.6 million cut).
Two rookies rounded out the top three: the DreamWorks cartoon ``The Road to El Dorado'' pulled in $12.5 million, a sum
considered disappointing by the studio, and ``The Skulls'' (Universal) opened at No. 3 with $11.4 million, a sturdy sum given
the bad reviews for the teen secret society drama.
Hong Kong action star Jet Li's ``Romeo Must Die'' (Warner Bros.) slipped two places and a hefty 46 percent to No. 4 in its
second weekend with $9.7 million. The $25 million-budgeted chopsocky-gangland romance is expected to reach about $60
million, said WB distribution president Dan Fellman.
``High Fidelity'' (Disney's Touchstone), a romantic comedy starring John Cusack as a music snob who ponders his romantic shortcomings in between compiling lists of songs, opened at No. 5 with $6.4 million. Its per screen average of $5,414 was the highest in the top 10.
The weekend's other major new release, ``Price of Glory'' (New Line), a boxing-based family drama starring Jimmy Smits, opened out of the top 10 with $1.5 million from 802 screens.
Seats were far from ``pretty vacant'' for the limited release debut of the Sex Pistols documentary ``The Filth and the Fury''
(Fine Line) in one New York theater. Director Julien Temple's look back at the seminal British punk combo pulled in a stellar
$12,000 at the weekend, and $18,000 since its Wednesday debut. The film expands to Chicago next weekend and Los Angeles on April 14.
According to Exhibitor Relations Co., which collects the studios' data, the top 12 films this weekend grossed a combined $77
million, up five percent from last weekend, and up one percent from the year-ago period when ``The Matrix'' -- a four time
Oscar winner -- pulled in $27.8 million.
``El Dorado,'' set in the 16th century, follows two Spanish stowaways (voiced by Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh) who
discover the fabled city of gold where they are treated as gods by the locals until love and greed rear their heads.
DreamWorks distribution president Jim Tharp said its $12.5 million opening was ``a little disappointing,'' and he would have
preferred a figure in the mid-teens. Reviews for the film were mixed, but he predicted the gross would hold up over ensuing
weekends because of a lack of competition in the family arena.
``High Fidelity'' received strong reviews, and it pulled in equal shares of males and females primarily in the 18-30 age bracket,
said Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Pictures distribution unit. Noting that Cusack's romantic comedy
``Grosse Pointe Blank'' opened at $6.8 million en route to $29 million in 1997, he hoped to bring in the review-sensitive,
over-30 crowd in coming weeks.
In its 29th weekend, ``American Beauty'' has grossed $117 million, and it should end up with $135 million domestically, said
DreamWorks' Tharp. Its Oscar haul included best picture, director (Sam Mendes), actor (Kevin Spacey), cinematography
(Conrad Hall) and original screenplay (Alan Ball). This weekend it boosted its screen count by 328 to 1,990.
``The Cider House Rules'' (Miramax), which snagged Oscars for supporting actor Michael Caine and screenwriter/novelist
John Irving, fell two places to No. 11 with $2.2 million. Its screen total dropped by 203 to 1,468. The drama's total stands at
$53.1 million in its 17th weekend.
Rounding out the top 10 were ``Final Destination'' (New Line) at No. 7 with $5.2 million (17-day total $28.2 million); and
``Mission to Mars'' (Touchstone) at No. 8 with $6.4 million (24- day total $54.5 million). Teen movies ``Here on Earth''
(Fox) and ``Whatever It Takes'' (Columbia) tied at No. 9 with $2.4 million. Their 10 day totals are $8.1 million and $7.5
million, respectively.
Universal Pictures is a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd.. Warner Bros., Fine Line Features and New Line Cinema are units of Time
Warner Inc.. Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films are units of Walt Disney Co.. Twentieth Century Fox is a unit of Fox
Entertainment Group Inc.. Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp.. DreamWorks SKG is privately held.
ones. You see, everyone says they want to see a more diversified group of
characters in animated movies, but every time they do put in a black person, a
Hispanic person, an Arab, a Jew, etc. the said group says that they are not
being portrayed correctly and it is offensive. The Hyenas in Lion King
acted too black, the Arabs of Alladin talked about chopping off heads, and in El
Dorado the Spanish people are shown to be buffoonish and primitive. Also,
the lead characters of Miguel and Tulio are supposed to be Hispanic, but they
are voiced by 2 of the whitest guys in Hollywood who do their own voices without
even trying to do a Spanish accent since if they did it would have been deemed
offensive. So, what happens is that animators are now afraid to show any
non white characters because they will be accused of being racist. But if they
don't show any, then they are considered racist. You can't win for losing
I guess. It seems that people in charge of these watchdog groups are
very insecure about their own heritage. They think white people are shown in
this glorious light all the time not realizing that white folks are the most
ridiculed group in the history of groups. But it is okay to show a goofy
white guy, a villainous white guy, or a heroic white guy, but all other ethnic
groups must be completely good with no faults or you are being
stereotypical. With that thinking, the group that is trying to help will
hurt their cause even more. The world is made up of all types of people
who fall in all ethnic groups. It is okay to show the faults of all people
because it can make good entertainment. Those stereotypes are there
because 
they
are based on certain truths though somewhat exaggerated. If the Ethnic
Protection Societies would ease up, then they would get their more diversified
movies. Until it changes, we will be stuck with Samuel L. Jackson in every
other flick. As for El D, I find it funny how all of the background
Doradans are dressed conservatively, but the Rosie Perez character is the half
dressed slut. So obviously, Miguel and Trulio pick her to help them
out. Dorado also has some steamy love scene that has brought concern and a
PG rating that may have turned off much of the family crowd the movie hopped to
attract. If they had hyped up the sexiness a bit more, I think I would
have made a better effort to check it out. Dreamworks put a lot of money in the
promotion of the film, but I don't see a lot of ads for Burger King kid's meals
or Taco Bell collectors cups. Elton John tries to remake his Lion King
hit, but from previews and reviews of the songs he does in this movie, he can
forget about finding extra space for a Grammy or Oscar. Movie studios are
afraid to take on the Disney animated machine head on since most have failed to
attract the $150 million to $300 million the average Walt D. flick takes
in. Don Bluth made a good run in the 1980s with Secret of NIMH, but could
not do it. Anastasia was pretty good, but was too adult a story to be a
major hit. Heck, Disney had a lot of trouble with Hunchback and
Pocahontas, Hercules and even Mulan. Tarzan was their first really
big hit since Lion King. Dreamworks is on the right track, and should not
let the apparent disappointment of Dorado discourage them. How about E.T.
the Animated movie?
could tell by looking at it that it looked stupid. I look at the plot and
I just don't understand why these secret groups always have to go and kill
people and then bitch about how their society falls apart at the end and can't
figure out what happened. Scooby Doo rule I guess. "I would have
gotten away with it if it wasn't for those darn kids, and their dog."
Personally, if I was given a lot of money, fancy cars, and 3 hot women at a
time, I might just take a skull burn on my wrist. The dues can't be that
bad. If it was not so secret, then maybe they could more respect and not
have reporters investigating your shenanigans. It is said that the college
that the movie takes place on is based on Yale, and that they have sort of
Skullcap society or something that George W. Bush Jr. was a member of in
his supposed cocaine days. This movie opened as high as it did
because it had the typical thriller preview with the car chases, spooky
catacombs, screaming good guy, female in peril, and that deep voiced dude that
narrates all of these type of movie trailers. Dawson's Creek is a popular
show among the teen set, but it is not enough to get the fans of the show to
seen anything the actors show up in. Katie Holmes has had no cinematic
success. Wonderboys died instantly at the box office. Michelle
Williams has resorted to making out with girls on HBO to get popularity since
the last time she was on the big screen, "Dick" did not do her much
good. James Van Der Beek had a small hit with Varsity Blues, but have you
seen him since? He has even been considered to play Annakin "Darth
Vader" Skywalker in Star Wars Episode 2. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Take
the advice laid down by such stars as David Caruso, Shelly Long, and McLean
Stevenson. Keep your day job.
movies
come out to the multiplex. High Fidelity is a movie that has gotten some
really good reviews, and real people that have gone to see it say it is a good
romantic comedy that has a character that Cusack is good at playing. Yeah,
the frustrated lover of women who has to beg and plead with them
constantly. Cusack tends to play the same character in every movie he
does, but the one that seems to stick out is his Say Anything type who pines
away for the perfect girl, the sure thing. He still has not broken out of
his early movie roles and seems to be stuck in limbo when it comes to
acting. Being John Malkovich was a different type of movie for him, but he
still played the same damn person he always does. His sister, Joan has
gotten 2 Oscar nominations, but she too plays the same character in her movies,
the best friend. Tim Robbins shows up in High Fidelity, and he has been
terminal box office as of late when he is the star. His cameo in Austin
Powers 2 was good because he played the President and it's fun to goof on him
because he tends to suck sometimes. He was good in Arlington Road with
Joan Cusack as his wife, but no one seemed to care. Mission to Mars was a
mess and will probably be removed from his resume. I think he is not given
stronger parts because they don't want to risk him getting nominated for an
Oscar and giving one of his save the whales or end the death penalty speeches.
Keep banging Susan, Tim. You always have that to fall back on. Lisa
"I was a Huxtable before I had Mickey Rourke shoot me in the crotch in
Angel Heart" Bonet appears as a potential girlfriend for John C. in HF.
She is trying to revive her career. She did an extended cameo in Will
Smith's Enemey of the State, and now she is "singing" in this movie
with the actors trying to convince the audience that she is any good. Hey
Lisa, I think it is time to see if your agent can find a script for 9 1/2 Weeks
Part 3. The gimmick of High Fidelity is that Cusack owns a record shop
that sells all vinyl LP albums since that was when music was cool and the cover
art was spectacular in an LSD type of way. So we get the staff of
the store giving their raps on what music is good and what music sucks. Oh
joy. More pop culture references that people have to understand to get
enjoyment out of the film. The movie also goofs on Stevie Wonder's Academy
Award winning song, "I just called to say I loved you" from the Woman
in Red soundtrack. Not good to goof on a popular blind guy who can't dress
himself. I have seen the preview of this movie several times in the movie
theater and it gets some good laughs so its high per screen average is
understandable. However, it will take strong word of mouth to get this movie
over the magic $50 million gross level. There is always the special edition DVD.