August 29, 1999

''Sixth Sense'' leads box office for fourth weekend

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``The Sixth Sense'' became the first movie in more than a year to rule the North American box office

for four consecutive weekends, and almost doubled the haul of the No. 2 film, ``The 13th Warrior.''

According to studio estimates issued Sunday, the Bruce Willis supernatural thriller earned about $20.1 million for the

Friday-to-Sunday period. ``Warrior,'' starring Spaniard Antonio Banderas as a 10th century Viking fighter, was the best of six new

wide releases, launching with $10.3 million.

``Saving Private Ryan'' was the last movie to top the box office for four weekends, its last round being August 14-16, 1998 when it

earned $13.2 million. ``The Sixth Sense'' joins 1997's ``Titanic'' and this year's ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace'' as

the only movies to earn more than $20 million for four weekends in a row.

Through a quirk of timing, director John McTiernan has two movies in the top 10 with ``The 13th Warrior'' and sixth-ranked ''The

Thomas Crown Affair.'' ``Warrior,'' based on the Michael Crichton novel, was held back from release last year because it was

scheduled to go up against Banderas' ``The Mask of Zorro.''

Adding to the historic nature of the weekend, the top two movies are Walt Disney Co. releases, issued through the firm's

Hollywood Pictures, and Touchstone Pictures banners, respectively. The last time a studio had the top two movies was in March

1998 when Paramount Pictures was in theaters with ''Titanic'' and the ``Grease'' reissue, a Disney spokesman said.

According to Exhibitor Relations, which collects the studios' data, the top 12 films grossed a combined $75 million, down 16

percent from last weekend's $90 million, but up 26 percent from the year-ago tally of $26 million. As summer winds down, the

studios are clearing house, casting out their weaklings or specialized films. The results were generally horrific.

Actor-director Albert Brooks' showbiz satire ``The Muse,'' co- starring Sharon Stone in the title role and Andie MacDowell,

opened at No. 7 with $4.2 million.

Brooks plays a screenwriter whose career slide is arrested by divine intervention. The USA Films release averaged a modest

$3,336 from 1,263 theaters, but Brooks' critical acclaim has never translated into dollars. His most successful release, 1996's

``Mother,'' ended up with just under $20 million.

``In Too Deep,'' an urban drugs tale starring Omar Epps and veteran rapper LL Cool J., vied for No. 8 with ``The Blair Witch

Project,'' each reporting about $4.1 million. ``Deep'' averaged a sturdy $6,146 from just 667 theaters, the second-highest tally in the

top 10 behind ``The Sixth Sense'' with $7,271. Since opening Wednesday, the Miramax Films release has earned $5.7 million.

``Blair Witch's'' 47-day total is $128 million.

New Line's ``The Astronaut's Wife,'' starring Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron, opened at No. 10 with $4.0 million and a $1,816

average from 2,209 theaters.

But at least it made the top 10: Universal's live-action remake of the cartoon classic ``Dudley Do-Right,'' starring Brendan Fraser,

opened at No. 11 with $3.0 million from 1,802 theaters; the Warner Bros.-distributed family movie ``A Dog of Flanders,'' starring

Jon Voight, pulled in $870,000 from 1,267 theaters. Its rank will be confirmed when final box office data are released Monday.

Industry observers expect ``The Sixth Sense'' to top the box office next Labor Day holiday weekend, and possibly the following

weekend.

Its next major competition is the Martin Lawrence cop comedy ``Blue Streak,'' which opens Sept. 17. After 24 days in release, the

film has earned $138.8 million, and should end up with about $225 million, said Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista

distribution unit.

``The 13th Warrior'' averaged $4,499 from 2,306 theaters, but Viane said he was very pleased with the opening. Exit polling for the

gory battle saga indicated the audience was 60 percent male, and 85 percent in the 18-49 age bracket.

Comedies grabbed the rest of the places in the top five: ''Runaway Bride'' (Paramount) rose one place to No. 3 with $6.9 million,

giving it a 31-day total of $124.5 million.

Steve Martin's ``Bowfinger'' (Universal) fell two places to No. 4 in its third weekend with $6.6 million, taking its total to $48.4

million.

Also down two notches was ``Mickey Blue Eyes'' (Warner Bros.), starring Hugh Grant, with $5.5 million in its second weekend

and a 10-day total of $19.8 million. MGM's ``The Thomas Crown Affair'' held steady at No. 6 with $4.7 million (24-day total $49.9

million).

The top 10 movies at the box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the August 27-29 weekend,

according to studio estimates collected Sunday by Reuters. Final data will be released Monday.

1 (1) The Sixth Sense .................. $20.1 million

2 (+) The 13th Warrior ................. $10.3 million

3 (4) Runaway Bride .................... $6.9 million

4 (2) Bowfinger ........................ $6.6 million

5 (3) Mickey Blue Eyes ................. $5.5 million

6 (6) The Thomas Crown Affair .......... $4.7 million

7 (+) The Muse ......................... $4.2 million

8-(5) The Blair Witch Project .......... $4.1 million

8-(+) In Too Deep ...................... $4.1 million

10 (+) The Astronaut's Wife ............. $4.0 million

NOTE: Last weekend's position in parenthesis.

+ - new release. Dudley Do-Right opened at No. 11 with $3.0 million. A Dog of Flanders opened with about $870,000.

Reuters/Variety

JOHN L.: This is getting way too redundant. We now have our offical sleeper of the summer in the Sixth Sense. Four months ago when you asked the so-called box office experts what would be the unexpected hit of the summer of 1999, the names you heard were American Pie and The Blair Witch Project. However, as soon as those names were named as candidates, they ceased becoming sleeper hits. No one was even talking about the "I see dead people" movie. No, people were saying how cool the Haunting looked, or how that guy is about to get schooled in the Deep Blue Sea Preview. Heck, some thought South Park would break through and become a huge hit. There were even grumblings of Austin 2 being a sleeper hit. Nope, it took Forrest Gump’s adopted son to control the box office with a grip unseen since Titanic. 6S qualifies as a movie that came out of nowhere that Entertainment Tonight did not kiss ass on for 3 months before it opened. They were too busy on Nicole Cruise and Tom Kidman’s jocks to notice Bruce Willis in a really bad hairpiece and a strange little girl under a bed. E! News Daily was too busy putting on stories about supermodels just so Steve Kmetko can give his little smirk at the end of the segment saying to himself "not as good as Greg." Howard Stern was too busy bitching about the FCC and how Notting Hill will outgross Phantom Menace to notice this flick. The internet was too busy looking for bogus witches and porn to notice naked men pointing guns at child psychologists. Will Smith could not sample enough songs to get the public interested in his mess of a western even though it too was promoted as a big Willy Weekend extravaganza. The general public was still bitching about how Jar Jar sucked, and Darth Maul was only on screen for 12 minutes. David Kelly was too busy making sucky lawyer shows. Vince McMahon was too busy learning how to take bumps onto Spanish Announce tables to notice a movie that makes no sense for the first hour unless you know the basic plot. Spielberg was too busy thinking up more ways to get Oscars off the backs of dead Jews to notice the most financially successful movie ever directed by and East Indian to be released in the United States. Nope, no one saw this one as being a $20 million + a week grossing flick. Bruce W. sucks unless he is doing a Die Hard movie. Columbine made us not want to see little boys being mentally tortured by demons. Too much violence, the public should not be shown such disturbing things. Bowfinger is the funniest movie of the year. Thomas Crown will show that Brosan is more than 007 and Russo looks less than 45. Al Brooks will finally get a movie that grosses more than $30 million. Sharon Stone will be respected as an actress that does more than spread her legs and bitches. Antonio Griffith can convincingly play a Norse Viking. ("The Hell you say") Hugh Grant can carry a movie on his own without a girl with big teeth. L.L. Cool J. can play a believable villain against a still looking for the next Juice, Omar Epps. Johnny Depp can take what he learned being sucked through a bed 15 years ago and use that to play a alien possessed astronaut to the woman who should never ever do another Playboy cover again. And surely, the hot Brendan Fraser coming off the mega hit, The Mummy and the kiddy fan favorite George George George of the Jungle can threepeat with Dudley Do-Right. These are the movies the public will want to see again and again and tell their friends, not some movie where the ending is so cheap that it will definitely piss people off and cause them not to bother to sit through it again. Obviously there was no test screening. Clair Danes, Lily Taylor, Charlize Theron, Rene Russo, Sarah Jessica Parker, Joley Fisher, Jennifer Aniston, Jeneane Garafolo, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Denise Richards, Heather Graham, Brigit Fonda, Natalie Portman, Andie McDowell, Salma Hayek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, Minnie Driver, Nia Long, and even Gwenyth Paltrow all suck. I would have sex with any 2 of them, but they still can’t put an ass in a seat. HG had AP2, but she did not help BF. NP had TPM, but she was schitzo in that flick, and I don’t see any little girls dressing like Padme or Amidala. CZJ is cute, but still can’t act. MD had a hit with Jungleman, but no kid knows who the hell she is and she gave no love to Matt Damon for winning an Oscar right in front of her. I am not Damon fan, but that was just cold. The only woman that can put an ass in a seat is Julia Roberts. I respect her box office power, but unlike the other girls, I think I would pass on a roll with that for some reason. Maybe it’s the Eric thing. Paltrow was not in a movie this summer, but she still sucks. I also like Cameron Diaz again, so I won’t goof on her anymore, I forgive her for her past indiscretion. There are only 3 actors that can get an ass in a seat on their name alone and they are Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey. Right now, Sandler is the top box office draw in the land. Hanks is a close second, but his stint with Liv Tyler a few years back damaged him, and Carrey is not helping with his Andy Kaufman movie coming out. I believe 99 percent of the people that remember AK only know him as a dimwitted foreign taxi repairman and not a celebrity wrestler or poor standup. As long as Sandler stays away from remaking Macbeth, his fans should show up every time.

My point this week is to say that movies still suck for the most part and there is no stopping the only true hit of the summer, The Sixth Sense. It is not my favorite movie of the summer, but I would not put it on a worst list either. The thing that makes this movie different from others that were well received like TPM, SP, AP, and even TBWP is that about everyone likes 6S, and many people had problems with the other hit movies of the summer, even the pie movie. Something About Mary was last years sleeper hit that no one expected to do as well as it did. The Dead People movie is this year’s. Expect the Seventh Sense to be out in about 2 years with Adam Sandler as the grown up kid who keeps seeing actors with dead movie careers cough Will Smith… cough cough.. Tom Cruise…. cough cough…. Johny Depp….cough hack, aauahacc… Omar Epps. Verne Troyer will play the psychologist in this one.

Next week will be the big Labor Day Summer of 1999 in review mega box office report. We will go down the list of the winners, losers, okays, fairs, sucked, best, and worst we saw and did not see. I saw many movies this summer, more than I though I would, so honest opinions should occur. A preview of what is to come will be included as well. I hope to get it out on Labor Day, but box office results are always late on a holiday. I should have it done no later than next Tuesday. It will be the last mega report until the end of the year review for the first weekend of the year 2000 which will also have my list of the 10 best and 10 worst movies of all time, along with 5 guilty pleasures. If you have been paying attention for the last few weeks, you know one movie that came out this summer will make that GP list. Bye for now.