theSunday February 29, 2000
Willis' ``Whole Nine Yards'' still box office champ
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Bruce Willis mob comedy ``The Whole Nine Yards''
ruled the
According to studio estimates issued Sunday, ``The Whole Nine Yards'' sold $9.6 million worth of
tickets in the United States and Canada for the Friday-to-Sunday period, taking its 10-day total to $28.5 million. The surprise hit children's movie ``Snow Day,'' starring Chevy Chase, rose one place to No. 2 in its third weekend with $8.5 million.``Reindeer Games'' opened at No. 3 with $8.0 million. The thriller stars Ben Affleck as an ex-con
caught up in a casino heist masterminded by a petty crook (Gary Sinise). A spokesman for its distributor, Miramax Films, declined comment on the critically reviled film's performance.The weekend's other new entry, Michael Douglas' ``Wonder Boys'' opened at No. 7 with $5.9
million. The offbeat comedy stars Douglas as an English professor struggling to write the follow-up to his hit novel, and revolves around his relationships with students and faculty members. A spokesman for Paramount Pictures said the studio would rely on positive word of mouth to boost the movie's prospects.While its per screen average of $4,669 was the highest in the top 10, Douglas' last movies have
done considerably better. For example, 1998's ``A Perfect Murder'' opened with $16.6 million, 1997's ``The Game'' with $14.3 million and 1995's ``The American President'' with $10 million.DICAPRIO SLIDES
DiCaprio's ``The Beach'' (Fox) slid four places to No. 11 with $3.5 million and a 17-day total of
$33.9 million. Paramount's unheralded ``Snow Day,'' which opened at the same time, has pulled in $43.3 million. A spokesman for Fox was philosophical about ``The Beach,'' noting that it was shaping up as an international hit.According to Exhibitor Relations Co., which collects the studios' data, the top 12 films this weekend
grossed a combined $75.3 million, down 25 percent from the three-day portion of last weekend's Presidents Day holiday, but up 16 percent from the year-ago period when Mel Gibson's ``Payback'' opened at No. 1 with $14.3 million.Box office champ ``The Whole Nine Yards'' should end up in the $50 million area, said Dan
Fellman, Warner Bros. distribution president. ``People just really enjoy the movie,'' he said. The black comedy stars Willis as a retired hitman living the quiet life in suburban Montreal, with Matthew Perry as his nervous neighbor and potential victim. Set against a backdrop of double-crossing and deceit, the film also stars Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan, Natasha Henstridge and Rosanna Arquette.``Hanging Up'' (Columbia Pictures) was down two to No. 4 with $7.5 million. The female comedy,
which stars Walter Matthau, Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow and Diane Keaton, who also directed the film, has pulled in $26 million after 10 days.The sci-fi thriller ``Pitch Black'' (USA Films), also in its second week, slipped one place to No. 5
with $7.1 million. Its total is $22.8 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 Feb. 25-27 weekend, according to studio estimates collected Sunday by Reuters.1 (1) The Whole Nine Yards ... $9.6 million
2 (3) Snow Day ............... $8.5 million
3 (+) Reindeer Games ......... $8.0 million
4 (2) Hanging Up ............. $7.5 million
5 (4) Pitch Black ............ $7.1 million
6 (5) The Tigger Movie ....... $6.3 million
7 (+) Wonder Boys ............ $5.9 million
8 (6) Scream 3 ............... $5.0 million
9 (9) American Beauty ........ $4.7 million
10(10) The Cider House Rules .. $4.1 million
NOTE: Last weekend's position in parenthesis. + - new release.
``The Whole Nine Yards'' is released by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc.
``Snow Day'' and ``Wonder Boys'' are released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.
``Reindeer Games,'' ``Scream 3'' and ``The Cider House Rules'' are released by Miramax Films, a
unit of Walt Disney Co. ``The Tigger Movie'' is released by Walt Disney Pictures.``Hanging Up'' is released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp.
``Pitch Black'' is released by USA Films, a unit of USA Networks Inc.
``American Beauty'' is released by DreamWorks SKG, which is privately held.
JOHN L.: No one ever believes me. I tell them movies suck and they say, "John, you are too negative. Movies are really good now." Ha ha ha ha ha! Here is the problem. There are no movie stars, just a bunch of actors that everyone knows because they keep popping up in crap movies. Any time the #1 movie at the box office makes less than $10 million shows that people have very little to get excited about right now. Whole 9 Yards is making more money than it normally would have because its competition is just as bad. Hanging Up is living up to its name in that when people call Moviephone and they say HU has several tickets available, people just hang up and go jogging. Ben Affleck is supposed to be some big time Oscar winning movie star. His new, heavily promoted, much delayed, Charlize Theron damning film couldn't beat friggin' Snow Day in its 3rd week of release. Michael Douglas, a movie star by heritage can't open a movie if it has no plot no matter what the critics think. He doesn't care, since he gets to play footsies with Catherine Zeta-Jones. I have been calling Leonardo crap for years, and finally people are starting to agree. He still has to be in a movie people want to see. Beach was not it and Celebrity was not it. Titanic had something that is still unexplained to this day and everyone involved in that flick got lucky. Oh, but there are some socalled "quality" movies back in the top ten that are supposed to bend over so its easier to kiss their ass. American Beauty and Cider House Rules are supposed to be these great films that they should make more of to better society. Puhleeze. They may be okay flicks and funny in their own perverted way, but they are just as stupid and corny as the other movies. Very little excitement this week, but let's look at the new entries in the top 10.
Ho ho ho ho. Merry Christmas. Ben Affleck is back again this week to
entertain the masses. He failed last week in Boiler Room, but this movie,
Reindeer Games had more
hype so it was supposed to do a lot better than it did. Affleck is still Matt
Damon’s boy toy. Talented Mr. Ripley was a modest success for Damon and got
good respones. Affleck still cannot get any respect. His last 3 movies were poor
performers with Dogma doing okay, Boiler Room falling out of the top 10, and now
RG failing to beat Snow Day at the box office. Maybe it’s his big chin that
looks real strange close up on the big screen. Charlize Theron still can’t get
a break after blowing it in Astronauts Wife. She is also in Cider House Rules
and getting respect critically but still not getting a mass audience. Male fans
like her work in 2 Days in the Valley and Devils Advocate. Unfortunately, she
posed for Playboy with probably the worse Playboy cover I have ever seen that
showed off how Theron is not the most ample actress in Hollywood. Her career has
been a bit stagnant ever since. Gary Sinise is doing something a bit different
this time by playing a bad guy right from the start of the movie instead of once
again becoming the secret villain like he did in Ransom and Snake Eyes. I still
find it funny when people are shocked that he has 2 legs. Movie interest is
based a lot on how the movie preview comes across. Affleck is a convicted car
theif who escapes and hooks up with Charilize who gets him trapped in a scam
with her brother and friends to rob an Indian casino. Lot’s of quick action
cuts, but the preview seemed to show the whole movie with a lot of things we
have seen before and there was nothing that innovative. It looked like a movie
that people will wait for video or cable to see. Also, the title is very holiday
oriented and throws off any momentum it might have had if it had come out in
December like it was supposed to. It was obvious that the movie company just
threw the movie out to the wolves not really caring that much about it hoping to
get a bit of a profit in the Americas and maybe some dough overseas. Too bad.
Maybe next time guys. Gary Sinise definitely deserves better.
Wonder Boys had a lot of hype as well this week but not a lot of people
cared. Michael 
Douglas
has been in the news a lot for having non condomized sex with Catherine
Zeta-Jones. Tobey Maguire is another actor showing up in 2 movies in the top 10
and is getting a Vin Diesel type push without the funky eyes. Frances McDormand
is back from the dead as a Douglas mistress. Seems that Douglas is slumming a
bit there. This movie as well has a weak preview that does not really get across
any plot that would interest $30 million worth of tickets on an opening weekend.
The 2 big bits in the preview are that Douglas is a writer who is on page 2465
or so of his great American novel and he shoots some dog and puts it in a trunk.
Oh yeah, Frances McDormand is pregnant. Okay, made for tv movieitis in effect
here fans. The other thing of slight interest is that this is the last movie
that Robert Downey Jr. did before he was forced into lockup for his drug abuses.
They don’t promote Downey much in the preview because they probably think
advertising that your fourth named star is a tar heroin addict who sleeps in
little girl’s beds. Also, what does the title mean? The promotion for this
movie has been pretty bad. The only real hype for it is based on the actor’s
real lives and not the fake lives in the movie. Watch Entertainment Tonight or
E! to get your real life fix since the movie characters look pretty boring.
There is always the bright side of having the highest per screen average of the
top 10 this week. Clap clap clap.
REST OF THE TOP 10 IN 10:
That’s it for this week. I don’t know what is coming up in the coming weeks. Things look pretty boring until May kicks in. I think Madonna and Julia Roberts are coming up soon, but I don’t see their new movies doing much. Madonna usually fails in movies and what the hell is an Erin Brokovich? Bye for now.
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