August 2, 1999
Julia Roberts Is 'Runaway' Box Office Champ
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Julia Roberts scored her second hit movie of the summer as the romantic comedy ``Runaway Bride'' opened in the top slot at the North American weekend box office, followed closely by the low-budget horror movie ``The Blair Witch Project''.
``Runaway Bride'', Roberts' reunion with her ``Pretty Woman'' co-star Richard Gere and that film's director, Garry Marshall, grossed about $34.5 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, Paramount Pictures said.
Gere plays a reporter who travels to a small town to do a story on -- and inevitably fall in love with -- Roberts' character, a hardware store owner who has left several grooms at the altar.
``The public was ready for a film like this, something that appealed to an older, female audience,'' Wayne Lewellen, president of distribution at Paramount, said.
The studio, which has North American distribution rights to the film, said it was the biggest launch for a romantic comedy ever, and sets a new benchmark for Roberts. By contrast ''Notting Hill'', in which she co-starred with Hugh Grant, pulled in a
four-day sum of $27.7 million when it opened two months ago. That movie has earned more than $110 million domestically.
``The Blair Witch Project'', a creepy mock documentary revolving around movie footage shot by three disappeared film students, grossed $28.5 million in its first weekend of wide release. Its per-screen average of $25,885 is the highest ever for a movie in wide release, according to the film's distributor, Artisan Entertainment far surpassing the previous wide-release record of $21,822 set by ``Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' in May. (''Menace,'' which debuted in 2,970 locations, earned $64.8 million in three days.)
The movie cost about $35,000-$40,000 to make, and was acquired for $1 million at this year's Sundance Film Festival by privately held Artisan, which has gone on to spend about $15 million on prints and advertising. After 19 days in release, it has
earned $35.4 million. Artisan president Amir Malin said `Blair'' now appears to
have a good shot at grossing $100 million -- roughly 91 times its reported acquisition cost of $1.1million, and about a thousand times its estimated budget of $100,000 -- making it one of the most profitable films of all time. ``The film continues to amaze even us, and we've had a huge amount of confidence in it from the start,'' Malin said.
Noting that Artisan owns all the merchandising and underlying rights, he described the movie as a ``multimedia franchise.'' The soundtrack was selling ``like wildfire'' and more than 400,000 pre-orders have been received for the upcoming book. In addition, the company is struggling to keep up with demand for merchandising products, which are available over the Internet.
He expected to rack up sales of $15 million for merchandise.
``Blair,'' which will add about 1,000 screens Friday, is expected to move into the No. 1 spot next weekend, despite an onslaught of new product.
Somewhat overshadowed by the top two movies was ``Deep Blue Sea'', a shark horror that opened in No. 3 with a creditable $18.6 million. Since opening Wednesday, it has pulled in $24.7 million. Directed by Renny Harlin, the film is about genetically
altered sharks on the rampage at an underwater research facility. Starring as shark bait are Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Rapaport and Saffron Burrows.
``We'll be there for the long run,'' Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros. said, citing good reviews and word of mouth.
Last weekend's top movie, ``The Haunting'', tumbled to No. 4, losing 55 percent of its audience as thrill-seeking moviegoers opted for ``Blair Witch'' and ``Deep Blue Sea''. The film earned $15.1 million, bringing its 10-day gross to $63.8 million, and would struggle to get to $90 million, said Jim Tharp, president of distribution at privately held DreamWorks.
Also in its second weekend of release, the children's movie ''Inspector Gadget'' fell three places to No. 5 with $14 million, bringing its 10-day sum to $47.7 million.
Meanwhile, New Line's ``Drop Dead Gorgeous'' earned an unlovely $1.6 million in 1,207 contests, down 60 percent from its coming-out party a week earlier. With a 10-day total of $7.9 million, the $10 million beauty pageant satire should struggle to an $11 million finish.
Rounding out the top 10 were ``American Pie'' at No. 6 with $6.7 million (24-day total $77.1 million); ``Eyes Wide Shut'' at No. 7 with $4.4 million (17-day total $48.7 million); ``Big Daddy'' at No. 8 with $3.5 million (38-day total $152.6 million); ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace'' at No. 9 with $3.4 million (75-day total $408.6 million); and ''Tarzan'' at No. 10 with $3 million (47-day total $158.3 million).
Among specialized releases, Sony Pictures Classics' Sundance pickup ``Twin Falls Idaho'' nabbed $50,000 in six locations in New York and Los Angeles, giving it a respectable $8,335 average.
In its second outing, Fine Line's ``Trick'' picked up $92,000 in six spots, down just 22 percent from the previous weekend. That gave the gay-themed comedy an impressive $15,333 per screen average.
USA Films' ``Autumn Tale'' grossed $111,000 after expanding from 19 to 22 locations. U.S. total after four weekends is $361,000.
Overall ticket sales for the weekend were expected to soar as high as $155 million, toppling the three-day record of $147.8 million set last Christmas. The weekend was just the latest manifestation of a red-hot theatrical marketplace that has put the summer box office tally significantly ahead of last year.
The current crop of holdovers will face a wave of five newcomers Friday, when MGM's ``The Thomas Crown Affair,'' Buena Vista's ``The Sixth Sense,'' Warner Bros.' ``The Iron Giant,'' Sony's ``Dick'' and Universal's ``Mystery Men'' elbow their way onscreen.
Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA - news) ``Deep Blue Sea'' and ``Eyes Wide Shut'' are released by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news) ``Inspector Gadget'' and ``Tarzan'' are released by Walt
Disney Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co.
``American Pie'' is released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd. ``Big Daddy'' is released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE - news) ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace'' is released by Twentieth Century
Fox, a unit of News Corp.
The top 10 movies at the box office
LOS ANGELES, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Following are the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the July 30-Aug. 1 weekend, according to studio estimates collected by Reuters. Final data will be released on Monday.
1 (*) Runaway Bride ........... $34.5 million
2(17) The Blair Witch Project . $28.5 million
3 (*) Deep Blue Sea ........... $18.6 million
4 (1) The Haunting ............ $15.1 million
5 (2) Inspector Gadget ........ $14.0 million
6 (3) American Pie ............ $6.7 million
7 (4) Eyes Wide Shut .......... $4.4 million
8 (5) Big Daddy ............... $3.5 million
9(10) The Phantom Menace ...... $3.4 million
10 (8) Tarzan .................. $3.0 million
NOTE: Last weekend's position in parenthesis. * = new release.
JOHN L.: We have a lot to cover this week. It was an extremely active week at the box office and I even got to see 3 movies since my last report (The Haunting, The Blair Witch Project, and Deep Blue Sea). Also, since horror seems to be making a come back, I will also list my 10 favorite horror movies. I shall just go down the list of top 10 movies and give my thoughts. Here we go.
If Adam Sandler is now the Big Daddy, Julia Roberts is the Big Bad Mama. She is now officially the first actress to be able open a picture. Demi Moore, Meg Ryan, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Sandra Bullock still cannot open a movie based on their name alone. Roberts has proven with her last 4 films, that she has a certain fan base large enough to open a picture over the $20 million mark. Richard GEREbil, on the other hand cannot open a picture unless he is ogling Eric Roberts' sister. He must have confabbed with the Dhalie Llama about how to get another it movie before the millenium hits. "Seek out the teeth" is what I believe he said. Runaway Bride's critical drubbing means little. Romantic comedies are usually enjoyed by most women and guys trying to please their girlfriends for letting them see Phantom Menace 5 times. Julia is popular, but she only makes the big bucks when she is chasing after guys. Her box office clout goes way down when she is getting shot at. I Love Trouble and Conspiracy Theory did not do that well. According to Entertainment Weekly, JR's movies have grossed over $963 million in which she is a leading actress. Its over $1.28 billion if you count all of her films like Satisfaction and The Player. The funny thing is, Carrie Fisher is still the top grossing female actress with $1.40 billion. I think Blues Brothers and Under the Rainbow put her over the top. I can't think of anything else she has done that could have received that much interest. I expect RB to do fairly well next week and still be around.
This must be the 10th time I have tried to write a Blair Witch Project review, but everytime I finish a paragraph, my RETURN key becomes a DELETE and the whole thing disappears. I am afraid to keep typing, and I am afraid to stop. Maybe later in the report, I can figure out a way to write this thing. Let's go on to Deep Blue Sea while I figure out this strange occurrence.
Renny Harlin strikes again with Deep Blue Sea. Too bad he couldn’t get Geena Davis to come back to help him out. From what I could see in the movie, mako sharks love the taste of bad actresses. I recommend DBS. I enjoyed it and it has some cool shark eating people deaths and scares. Most of the scares are legit and not bull shit cat jumps through the window type stuff. There was only one fake scare and it made since. Best death was the speech death. That surprised most people in attendance because it went against the norm. Anaconda was more fun, but I respect DBS for taking the movie seriously and not having humor lessen the horror like so many movies of this type do. L.L. is amusing, but he is still in a couple of very harrowing situations. Sam Jackson faxed his work in this time, but he does have a kick ass scene with the shark. The British scientist chick sucked. Elizabeth Shue disease (huh?). I give DBS 2 ½ stars 6 ½ out of 10 B Thumbs up. A good thrill. If you like to see your horror and not imagine it, DBS is for you.aj;fskldjfskldjfslkdjfakljdlsjdkl;fsjdl;fak
What the hell?
Lookatallthestickslookatalltherockslookatthetongueoooolookatthatasswhereisthemapithoughtitookitbutshesaidthedumbonegottoitfirstoooplaykiddiesbutdontlookbackorillgetcha
WTF?
I did not write that? If I didn’t, then who? Hmm, lets go on to the Haunting.
The Haunting deserved its 55 percent box office drop. The preview was a lot better than the actual film. For one thing, Catherine Zeta Jones appears in the film, but she is pretty pointless. She has nothing to do with the plot whatsoever. She is just there to look hot and gay. Liam Neeson is still looking for the force. He did not find it in this flick. He should find a better list of movies to do. The guy from Anaconda was cool, but he needs a nose job. The Haunting is actually a Lilly Taylor vehicle. It is all her and that can be a little annoying. Taylor is a good actress and for most of the movie she does an adequate job. The problem with her and the general direction of the actors is that they don’t react in any kind of shocked way when they see ghosts and strange writings on the wall. At least in ahhhhhaafrrrrnotworthytomentionmynameinthesamesentenceasjondebonttrashaaaarrrrgwantacookielittlegirlhowaboutaswimtiemetoatreeinthemiddleofwinternexttimeirapeyourgrandmayoueffingburkitbuttholesdamndidyouseetheassonthatheatherchickjehovahpraisethee
This must be some y2k problem. My Word 97 program keeps printing these strange garbled messages that make no sense. I keep trying to erase them, but the hilight won’t go over it to choose. If I can’t fix it, I will just have to leave it in the report. Sorry for any confusion this might cause. To sum up 2 stars 5 out of 10 C- thumbs down. There are a few cool effects but it leaves you empty and the ending sucked because of how unnecessary it was. The photo album scene is the only thing I thought was scary at all.
Scaryillshowyouscarylookatthefloorfortensecondsfeelthatnotheneffyouiamtherejustuseyourimaginationbecausewhatyoucantseeisalwaysscarierthanwhatyoudoseedoyouknowhowcoldwinterserebackinthelateeighteenthcenturyyoudbepissedtoodamnihatelittlekids
Okay that’s it. I need to end this before my harddrive crashes. The rest of the top 10 is self explanatory. Tarzan and Big Daddy kicked box office ass. Inspector Gadget actually held up well. If it makes more than $85 million expect a number 2. Eyes Wide Shut will be shutting its doors very soon. Tom Cruise can open a pic, but Kidman will kill it everytime. Phantom Menace is a hit, eff the critics. American Pie is still the best film of the summer, I wish it was making more money. Where is Wild Wild West?
Oh, here are my top 10 horror movies of all time in order of appearance. If these spooky things were not going on with my Word 97, I would say why. I will just have the list:
Whatthehellkindoflististhatyouhavetobekidddingyouaresuchapussyibetyoucriedwhenbambismomwaskilledibetyouevenpeedyourunderooswhenpinochiowaseatenbythewhaleyouandallyouotherlosersknowthattheprojectofmylifeisthescarierstmoveeveryouneverseemebutyouknowiamtherejoshwaseasybecausehecriedalotandsesitivetothetouchmikesubmittedquicklyandlikeagoodlittlealtarboystoodinthecornerandwaitedhisturnnowthatbitchheatheroooihadplansforherishutheruprealgoodiwatchedtheretapesoverandoverandoverandoverandover
(Oh crap, the Blair Witch has taken over my Box Office Report!!!)
thatsrightlittleboytheboxofficeisallmineioutgrossedeffinepisodeonenextweekiwillbenumberonehahahahahahaha
(You will not get me you witch!!)
ialreadyhaveyouandwhenyoustoptypingyourhandprintswillbedecroatingmywalls
(There must be a way to stop the onslaught the Blair Witch!)
iftwocollegestudentswith3thousanddollarsofvideoandaudioequipmentcouldnotstopmehowcanyoursorryass
(So, the Blair Witch is real. The actors pretending to be the ones in the video are just golems, doppelgangers, celebrity lookallikes)
ofcourseitisallrealnooneintheirrightmindwouldmakestufflikethisup
(Didn’t you think it was weird how those kids had infinite battery life for their equipment and no cell phone?)
yeahithoughtthatwasweirdtoo
(Hey, what did you do with those guys at coffin rock?)
iamstillpickingtheirskinfrommyteethherehaveataste
(No thank you Miss Witch, I’m full)
wellitstimeforyoutodienowanylastwords
(Uh, how did that little girl escape that you caught back in the early 1800s?)
shewasbyherselfineedatleasttwotokillatoncethatswhyididnotkilljoshrightaway
(Well, I am by myself, so I am out of here! Eff you Blair Witch!! You suck and your cunt stinks.. Catching little kids is not that tough, and it gets you no sympathy. You have ruined my box office report for this week. No one can read what you say and no one really thinks you are scary because you are always hiding and never really showing your face. Blair Witch Project was not scary, just a bit funny and slightly innovative in a cheap cable access way. More people were pissed off at the end than were startled or surprised. Heather was annoying and does not have my sympathy. Josh was cool, but his crying under the tree showed he is a pussy. Mike was a good guy and did not deserve his fate. Blair Witches should stay on the Sci Fi Channel and DVD. The theatrical release can make you dizzy with its shaky camera. If you want to know what will kill the momentum of the Blair Witch? It is Post Independent Filmmaker Disease. Everytime an independent filmmaker or makers do a cheap movie that becomes financially successful, Hollywood gives them millions of dollars to make another movie and it shows just how much they suck. Richard Rodriguez, that Sex Lies Videotape dude, and John Carpenter’s Halloween made a big profit, but has not had a hit movie since, a couple of good ones, but no hits (wtf was Vampires?). And if that doesn’t finish off the Blair Witch, how about this. Blair Witch merchandising!!!!!!!!!)
Nononstopstop
(Blair Witch Beanie Babies!!!)
uhhhhahhahhhhh
(Blair Witch: the tv series starring Paul Reubens)
youfuckingbastardillkillyourcousins
(Blair Witch: for Atari Jaguar and Turbo Grafx)
notfairnotfairyoucheatyoucheat
(Blair Witch Pokemen: Witchachu)
ihatethejapanesegivemeindigestion
(Blair Witch: The Talk Show – first guests Melissa Joan Hart and Alyssa Milano)
whoreswhoreswhoreswhoreswhores
(You Don’t Know Jack About Blair Witch – category – how many witches does it take to screw with your head? – none because Blair Witches suck!!)
iwillkillyouiwillkillyouiwillkillyouyoughostgirlstandinthecorneriamabouttoeatthisasshole
(And Finally the ultimate death knell for the Blair Witch)
nonothatanythingbutthatpleaseiwillleaveyoualonedontsayit
(The Blair Witch Project 2: The Search for Heather’s Ass)
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Whew, finally got rid of her. I apologize. I hope my box office reports are never taken over again like that. It is so hard to read those run on sentences. This may possibly be the worse box office report ever. I hope to return next week with a better report. It should be eventful. Thomas, Mystery, and Iron on the loose. Its up in the air for what will be the top movie. Bye for now.
JOHN L.
KOABWW