Thursday, March 8, 2001

Pitt, Roberts Cook 'Mexican' Feast at Box Office

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood royalty Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts added some spice to the North American weekend box office as their new film ``The Mexican'' toppled ``Hannibal'' from the No. 1 spot, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

``The Mexican,'' a comedy-drama released by DreamWorks, grossed about $20.3 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, followed by another new entry, the children's movie ``See Spot Run'' (Warner Bros.) with $10.2 million. Both movies were trashed by critics, but the former was underpinned by its star power and the latter by the absence of competing kids' pictures.

Pitt played a mobster who must recover an antique pistol called ``the Mexican,'' while Roberts played his girlfriend. Both stars took pay cuts to star in the movie, which cost $40 million to make and was originally envisioned for a pair of lesser-known actors.

DreamWorks' distribution president, Jim Tharp, said bad reviews may have hurt ticket sales in some bigger East Coast towns. Although the privately held studio conducted no exit polling, pre-release tracking indicated females would account for about 55 percent of the audience, with moviegoers split evenly either side of 25 years.

Canine Fbi Agent

``See Spot Run,'' which paired comic actor David Arquette with a canine FBI agent, cost about $15 million to make. Its opening was ``very, very good,'' said Warner Bros. distribution president Dan Fellman. He predicted it would be very profitable, especially after home video returns are factored in. Warner Bros. is a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc..

``Hannibal,'' meanwhile, pulled in about $10.1 million, taking the 24-day total for the Anthony Hopkins thriller to $142.8 million, according to a spokeswoman for domestic distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.. The film had ruled the box office for three weekends.

The Chris Rock comedy ``Down to Earth'' fell two places to No. 4 with $8.0 million and a 17-day total of $44.1 million. The film was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc..

The Chinese-language martial arts romance ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (Sony Pictures Classics) held steady at No. 5 with $4.9 million and an 87-day total of $88.7 million. Sony Classics is a unit of Sony Corp..

The two wide releases that opened last weekend, ``3000 Miles to Graceland'' (Warner Bros.) and ``Monkeybone'' (Twentieth Century Fox) both plummeted in their second rounds.

``Graceland,'' a casino heist caper starring Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner, fell six places to No. 9 with $3.1 million, losing 57 percent of its audience. Its total is $12.2 million, and it should end up with $20 million in the till, said WB's Fellman.

``Monkeybone,'' a special effects-laden comedy starring Brendan Fraser, pulled in just over $1 million, off 62 percent from last weekend when it opened at No. 11. The movie, which cost about $70 million to make, has grossed $4.3 million so far, and should reach $6.5 million, said Bruce Snyder, president of domestic distribution at Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc..

The top movies in North America -- March 2-4

(Changes ranking for Hannibal to No. 2 from No. 3, switching with See Spot Run)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the March 2-4 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. The Mexican .......... $20,108,829

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $20,108,829

2. Hannibal .......... $10,051,008

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $142,783,661

3. See Spot Run .......... $9,715,102

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $9,715,102

4. Down to Earth .......... $7,815,382

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $43,883,112

5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon .......... $4,906,007

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $88,655,907

6. Traffic .......... $4,475,069

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $92,267,376

7. Chocolat .......... $4,200,052

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $45,737,220

8. Recess: School's Out .......... $3,961,773

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $27,588,843

9. 3000 Miles to Graceland .......... $3,110,377

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $12,250,978

10. Sweet November .......... $2,275,493

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $21,438,765

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.: Surprises all around this week in the box office top 10. Brad Pitt is in his first movie to open abover $20 million while Julia may be in her first movie dissapointment since Mary Reilly. David Arquette is starring in a movie that is probably going to out gross the other one he and his wife are in, 3000 Miles to Graceland. Movies in New York cost $10.00 a head now which will be another factor in lowered attendance when those figures are put together at the end of the year. Pretty so it will be cheaper to buy the movie on DVD than it is to see it in the movie house. My prediction is by the time Star Wars Episode 3: End the Horror Now comes out in 2005, movies will be $13.00 a ticket in New York.

The Mexican was envisioned as a low budget indie style pic that would get some exposure at Cannes or Sundance and eventually just be another resume listing on a film student's application. Somehow, the producers were able to get the most popular female actress in North America, and the most popular People Magazine boy toy to lower their salaries to keep the final budget of the film under $45 million. Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt liked the script and decided to take a pay cut. Actually, Roberts took the cut, and Pitt was lucky to get hired at all based on the public response to his last several films. This was one of those dream castings that are hoped for by movie companies. Put 2 of the biggest stars in Hollywood together in one film and just wait to count the money. The problem that has occured though is that for some reason, Pitt and Roberts have little screen time together as a couple. For most of the film they are apart with Pitt looking for a special gun known as The Mexican, and Roberts going through her Stockholm Syndrome with James Gandolfini. It is said that the magic between Brad and Julia is minimal, but the real chemistry were the scenes with Gandolfini and Roberts. Tony Soprano, as Ganolfini is better known as, supposedly steals the picture as the hitman with the heart of gold. Gandolfini is becoming a very typecast actor, but he knows now is the time to take advantage of his faux gangster notoriety and run with it. It would also be nice if a movie called the Mexican, would actually star Hispanic actors, but it looks like that will never happen. Jennifer Lopez and Jimmy Smits were sick that day I guess. I have rant I am working on that will deal with the whole issue of race and movies, but it won't be ready until about May. The previews for this movie were very poor, and the only reason the film opened as well as it did is that Julia Roberts can open a movie. She can do no wrong, and actually earns her large paychecks. Brad Pitt's name is more of a hindrance than an assett when on the marquis. Meet Joe Black seems to have stopped him as being someone that matters. I am not a fan of his, even though he made one of the best movies ever, Fight Club. Pitt is looking to get more hype for his movies than his Sexiest Man Alive gimmick. Looks like he may be looking at those "Eight" scripts a little closer nowadays. I would say that Gandolfini was almost a bigger draw than Pitt was for this movie since Sopranos was seen last week by more people than those who saw Snatch. I see a big drop off next week for The Mexican, but it should still probably stay number one.

See Spot Run shocked the world by making $10 million this weekend, about $12 million more than most thought it would. This movie had several things going for it though. For one thing it is a raunchy kids movie meaning poopy jokes for all those under the age of 10. There is physical slapstick that always gets a laugh from the youngins. There is a dog running around that is smarter than the humans interacting with it. The title is based on one of the most well known learning to read children's books. It is a PG rated movie in a sea of R and PG-13. Oh, and the main reason this movie had the attention of so many is there was a certain trailer shown before it called "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." See Spot Run is a good movie to attract kids who might also want to see the live action version of the best selling J. K. Rowling books. Kevin Costner's, "13 Days" tried this tactic by showing the "Lord of the Rings" preview, but those movies don't go together in anyway so it did not help its box office. See Spot Run looks to be a very stupid movie about a drug sniffing FBI dog wanted by the mob who ends up in the inept care of mailman, David Arquette. Michael Clarke Duncan is along for the ride as the FBI agent trying to find his dog partner. Some people say that this movie may be step down for an actor who was nominated for an Oscar last yeaer, but if you saw "The Green Mile" I think this might be a step up from that part. David Arquette seems to be playing his CALL ATT commercial bit in this movie and that is is most popular role next to being Dewey in Scream 1 through 3. Most kids probably are not allowed to see Scream, but they watch a lot of TV that has a lot of commerical breaks. This movie only cost $15 million, so it will actually have a bigger profit than the last 2 Scream movies and definitely a bigger return on investment than 3000 Miles to Graceland. Don't be surprised if See Spot Run Again gets greenlighted in the near future.

1. It was thought that Hannibal was the third highest grossing movie of the week, but after the final numbers were counted, it devoured some more box office dollars and made more than See Spot Run.

2. I think Hannibal has now made more money than all Ray Liotta movies combined.

3. Down to Earth is hanging in there pretty well and should do very little to hurt Chris Rock's career.

4. I can't wait to see what Rock does with his remake of Reds called "I Take Care of My Kids."

5. Here comes my favorite part of the box office report where I get to show another picture of Zhang Ziyi, star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:

6. Steven Soderbergh is on track to have Traffic become his second $100 million grossing movie in a row.

7. Chocoat is hanging in there pretty well and continues the excellent track record of Miramax at Oscar time.

8. Recess shows that kids prefer to watch certain shows on TV and not the big screen.

9.   3000 Miles to Graceland shows that people prefer real Elvis movies over fake ones.

10.    Sweet November's time in the top ten is quickly turning sour.

That is all I have this week.  One day I might go back to the movie theater to watch a movie so this site can have some sort of purpose.  Bye for now.