Thursday, March 1, 2001

''Hannibal'' enjoys third helping at U.S. box office

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The cerebral thriller ''Hannibal'' chewed up its competition at the North American box office for the third consecutive weekend, while the new Brendan Fraser film ``Monkeybone'' took honors as the first spectacular flop of the year, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

``Hannibal'' grossed about $15.8 million for the Friday-to- Sunday period, taking its 18-day total to $128.5 million in the United States and Canada, and about $200 million worldwide, according to domestic distributor Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Inc.

MGM co-produced the Anthony Hopkins chiller with Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal, which is handling distribution in most foreign territories.

At the other end of the scale, the live-action/animated combo ``Monkeybone'' (Fox) opened at No. 11 with $2.6 million.

``The research had told us it was coming,'' said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution at Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's Fox Entertainment Group Inc.''Everybody's a little sad (at Fox),'' he added.

The film cost about $70 million to make, Snyder said. The story, based on the cult comic book ``Dark Town,'' pairs Fraser with a cartoon monkey in a surreal trip through the subconscious. It was directed by Henry Selick, who previously filmed ``The Nightmare Before Christmas.''

Fox took a big hit last year with another bold cartoon, ''Titan A.E.''

One other film also opened on Friday, ``3,000 Miles to Graceland'' (Warner Bros.), a casino heist thriller starring Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. It opened at No. 4 with a modest $7.1 million.

``It did fairly well in a fairly crowded marketplace,'' said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros., adding that he thought the film might have done a little better.

Warner Bros., however, had no financial investment in the film, Fellman said. The studio, a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc. , released it for a fee on behalf of closely held Los Angeles-based producer Franchise Pictures, the company behind recent bombs ``Get Carter'' and ``Battlefield Earth.''

The top 12 films this weekend grossed about $75.5 million, about even with the year-ago period, and down almost 30 percent from last weekend, which was a holiday weekend in the United States.

New releases next weekend include the canine caper ``See Spot Run'' and the Julia Roberts-Brad Pitt vehicle ``The Mexican.''

Elsewhere at this weekend's box office, the Chris Rock life-after-death comedy ``Down to Earth'' (Paramount) remained at No. 2 in its second weekend with $11.6 million, taking its 11-day total to $34.6 million.

The children's cartoon ``Recess: School's Out'' (Walt Disney Pictures) held steady at No. 3, also in its second weekend of release, with $7.3 million, giving it $23 million in the bag.

Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc., Walt Disney Pictures is a unit of Walt Disney Co. REUTERS

The top movies in North America -- Feb. 23-25

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the February 23-25 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. Hannibal .......... $15,767,006

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $128,512,863

2. Down to Earth .......... $11,211,225

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $33,971,683

3. 3000 Miles to Graceland .......... $7,160,521

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $7,160,521

4. Recess: School's Out .......... $6,931,509

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $22,702,837

5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon .......... $6,592,223

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $81,940,326

6. Traffic .......... $5,136,889

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $86,229,142

7. Sweet November .......... $5,125,388

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $17,787,278

8. Chocolat .......... $4,761,167

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $40,062,665

9. The Wedding Planner .......... $3,952,643

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $52,178,614

10. Cast Away .......... $3,105,171

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $220,921,892

NOTE: Monkeybone opened at No. 11 with $2,685,078.

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.:  

There is not a whole lot to cover this week since Brendan Fraser's movie, Monkeybone, failed to make the top 10. It's failure this week is based on a preview that made the film looked stupid and incomprehensible. If you are going to have an annoying cartoon character in the movie, then you have to show another friendlier one for the audience to get behind. Fraser, not an animated character, was to be the sympathetic one and it seems to not have worked. This bomb should not bring down the Mummy 2's opening week box office since it has a pretty good preview, a brand name, and The Rock. Kevin Costner has returned after his 13 Days lasted less than that in the box office tallies. His new movie, 3000 Miles to Graceland looks to continue his 9 year stretch of underperforming movies. Okay, let's go.

There have been a lot of popular singing groups over the last 50 years, but there seems to be only one solo singer that still fascinates the public and that is Elvis Aaron Presley, Michael Jackson's ex-father-in-law. Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Love Me Tender, Burning Love, Viva Las Vegas, and Suspicious Minds are all rock and roll classics. His movies were okay and were very successful in their day. His death was surprising, but not unexpected since he had put on a considerable amount of weight before he died in August 1977. The King of Rock and Roll's death on his throne is legend. The ABC show 20/20 made its name on exposing the doctor that prescribed the drugs that lead to Presley's crappy death. Elvis lives, works at Burger King, and secretly plants child pornography under the couch seat cushions at Neverland Ranch are some of the rumors going around since 1997 and none of them have panned out to be true. Hollywood and writers still want to keep the King alive so they come up with new ways to annoy us all with his Tennessean swagger. This week's entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame is 3000 Miles to Graceland, Kevin Costner's 10th comeback movie in 9 years. He plays an Elvis impersonator with delusions of Frank Sinatra in "Oceans Eleven" who wants to rob a Las Vegas casino. He gets the help of other would be hip shakers in the likes of Kurt "I was the first Elvis impersonator" Russell-Hawn and David "Courtney Cox" Arquette as well as some others. This movie is not attracting that many customers, but is probably the best opening for a Costner film in years. The problem is that movies about glorifying criminals robbing a casino are not in that much demand. Costner's character is also sort of mean, and that has never worked well for him on screen, just see Perfect World. I have been a fan of Russell's since he guest starred on Lost in Space, and I watched him as Elvis in that 1979 mini series and was impressed. I look at him now and see that his career is starting to come full circle and it saddens me a bit. Arquette and his wife Courtney are together again in a non-Scream role this time. Cox is fairly prominent in the trailers, but Arquette is never even mentioned. I don't see this movie doing that well in the long run and will probably make less than See Spot Run when it is all said and done.

1. I wonder if Jodi Foster wishes she could have been in Hannibal now that it has become a huge success.

2. I wonder if Warren Beatty regrets having that dinner with Chris Rock when the discussed the art of making movies about life and death?

3. I wonder if Dabney Coleman, one of the voices in Recess, wishes he could have taken up carpentry instead of acting after looking back on all of his failed attempts at being a successful actor?

4. I wonder if Jet Li will be in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 and fight Zhang Ziyi to the death.

5. Speaking of Zhang Ziyi, here is another pic of my favorite actress:

6. Is Stephen Soderbergh ever going to give Don Cheadle a lead role in one of his movies or will he always be his Elliot Gould?

7. After the performance if Sweet November, will Keanu Reeves be taking a second look at those old Bill and Ted's Third Excellent Adventure scripts?

8. Johnny Depp remains an amazing actor who seems to be in one sappy movie after another and still get praised for it.

9. J-Lo is very low this week in the box office top 10 with her overexaggerated Wedding Planner movie.

10. Castaway was not supposed to be here this week, but Monkeybone really sucks.

Good grief this report was late this week. Next week we have Brad and Julia and more David Arquette. I don't see the Mexican cracking the $100 million mark for Miss Roberts this time, but it should be Pitt's highest grossing movie since Seven. David Arquette better hope there are a lot of families with 3 year old daughters who like to watch stupid dog smarter than man movies or Scream 4 may just become a reality after all. Bye for now.