Tuesday, November 23, 1999

Bond Movie Shakes Up Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Despite mixed reviews from critics, the new James Bond film shook up the North American box office as it opened at No. 1 with ticket sales of $35.5 million, according to final data issued on Monday.

``The World Is Not Enough,'' which marks Irishman Pierce Brosnan's third turn as suave Agent 007, ranks as the biggest opening both for a Bond movie and for its studio, 75-year-old Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Opening at No. 2 was the Johnny Depp horror film ``Sleepy Hollow'' with $30.1 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period. This marks the first time in box office history that two movies have each opened with more than $30 million, said its distributor, Paramount Pictures. Last weekend's champ, ``Pokemon: The First Movie,'' a cartoon based on the Nintendo video game, slipped to No. 3 with $12.5 million, said distributor Warner Bros. The film's 12-day total stands at $67.4 million, and observers expect it will have little difficulty passing the century mark.

Bond movies have traditionally run into resistance in the American heartland, where movies starring people speaking with funny accents are treated with suspicion, an MGM official said.

But the film's usual mix of action and glamorous women, led by American Denise Richards and French actress Sophie Marceau, won over audiences from all demographics. The film was directed by Michael Apted, whose credits include ``Gorillas in the Mist'' and ``Nell.''

``This opening further solidifies that Bond is timeless,'' said a statement from Larry Gleason, MGM's president of worldwide distribution. ``Audiences across the country embraced the film, and these all-encompassing fans, both young and old, will ensure the franchise's success into the new millennium.''

MGM's previous best opening was ``Goldeneye,'' Brosnan's Bond debut, which opened to $26.2 million in November 1995. It went on to make $106 million in the United States and Canada, and $350 million worldwide.

Critics, however, were less than thrilled with the new Bond film, which reportedly cost upward of $130 million. According to Hollywood trade paper Variety's poll of major reviewers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC, 11 critics liked it, 14 did not and 12 were mixed.

The reviews for director Tim Burton's ``Sleepy Hollow,'' which cost about $70 million, were

kinder, with raves from 28 critics, thumbs down from just four and a mixed response from 11, Variety said.

In the loose adaptation of Washington Irving's classic tale, ``The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,'' Depp plays Ichabod Crane, a New York police constable who investigates a series of decapitations at the hands of a headless horseman.

Box office observers expect the reign of ``The World is Not Enough'' to be a short one:

Wednesday sees the nationwide release of Disney's computed-animated feature ``Toy Story 2,'' which has won great reviews. The 1995 original grossed $39.1 million in its first five days, including $29.1 million for the Friday-Sunday portion. Both movies feature the voices of Tim Allen as spaceman Buzz Lightyear and Tom Hanks as Woody the cowboy.

Also opening Wednesday is Universal's ``End of Days,'' a satanic thriller starring Arnold

Schwarzenegger in his first action headlining role since 1996's ``Eraser.''

Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc., Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc., and Universal Pictures is a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd. ``Toy Story 2'' is a production of Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios.

Here's a complete look at the weekend's Top 10, according to the box-office tracking firm

Exhibitor Relations:

1. The World Is Not Enough, $35.5 million

2. Sleepy Hollow, $30 million

3. Pokémon: The First Movie, $12.5 million

4. The Bone Collector, $6.5 million

5. Dogma, $4 million

6. Anywhere But Here, $3.2 million

7. The Insider, $2.8 million

8. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, $2.2 million

9. The Bachelor, $2.4 million

10. Being John Malkovich, $1.8 million

JOHN L.: Welcome to the periodic late box office report update. It is late because I wanted to see The World is Not Enough and post a review. I was going to see it Sunday, but I had too much tv to watch that ended up not being of the best quality. I plan to also check out End of Days, Toy Story 2, and if I am feeling really game Sleepy Hollow, and if I can survive all of that, maybe Being John Malkovich. This was rare week this time out since the top 2 movies actually made a crap load of money instead of just the #1 spot dominating. Tim Burton has his first live action hit since Batman Returns. Bond seems to be more popular than ever. Sean who? Barry Nelson? Ha ha ha. David Niven doesn't count. George Lazenby rules. Roger Moore gets no respect. Where are they now Dalton? And Remington Steele strikes back. In my coverage of the new James Bond extravaganza, I will go over how the movie is, who is the best Bond, worst Bond, underrated, overrated, best movie, worst movie, best Bond babe, worst babe, etc. And if I am feeling really fly, I might even preview ten of the most anticipated movies to come out for the rest of the year like Man in the Moon and The Green Mile.

The World is not Enough, the 19th official James Bond movie has been released and as these movies tend to do recently, opened quite well. Last time we saw Bond he was going up against Titanic. Unlike other movies back then, Tomorrow Never Dies was actually financially successful causing MGM to keep Mr. Brosnan around for a 3rd go around. He is now officially more popular than Timothy Dalton. I consider myself one of the biggest James Bond movie fans around. I have seen them all including the 3 unofficial ones like the Playhouse Theater version of Casino Royal starring Barry Nelson as "Jimmy" Bond. The David Niven Casino Royal comedy that also had Woody Allen as Dr. Yes. And Never Say Never Again which brought Sean Connery out of retirement and Kim Basinger into the mindset of the public. Heck, I even think On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a great Bond movie, and George Lazenby did a good job. He gets no respect from the socalled Bond movie fans, but I dug the whole thing. Kojak as Blofeld, the ski chase scene where Bond only had one ski, the bobsled chase, and the fact that Bond got married at the end and then 5 seconds later she is blown away. I still cry at the end of that movie. I grew up on the Roger Moore Bond movies and he is my personal favorite. He could do no wrong and he was great at the one liners. Sean Connery is everyone’s favorite and he still has a career unlike Dalton, Moore and Lazenby. Connery was fine, but his movies were not as exciting as the Moore ones, plus Connery never had a snow ski chase. I am the biggest mark for the Bond ski chase sequence. Blofeld, Goldfinger, Scaramanga, Nick Nack, Oddjob, Mr. Big, Drax, and even Xenia Onatopp are some of my all time favorite movie villains ever. "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die" is one of the top 10 best lines in movie history from Goldfinger. Names like Pussy Galore, Octopussy, and Holly Goodhead are a Mike Myers wet dream. However, Jane Seymour as Solitair in Live and Let Die is my all time favorite Bond girl. Tanya Roberts in View to a Kill was the worst, and I remember seeing that one and the crowd yelling for Bond to leave her to die in one scene because she sucked so badly. Tim Dalton got a bad rap as Bond and after a second viewing Living Daylights does not hold up well, but I did likeLicense to Kill. I remember when Pierce Brosnan was lobbying to become Bond back in 1986 or so, but he was still doing Remington Steele so they gave it to Dalton. Dalton good not get over, so Cubby Broccli and co. reached in their rolodex and called Brosnan up and he got the role. Goldeneye came out and was a big success. I didn’t like it too much, but I dealt with it. The music soundtrack in that one was a little off and sort of took the life out of some scenes. And then there is the stretch where nothing happens. However, it did produce one of the best and most violent video games ever. Tomorrow Never Dies came out and I completely dug the whole thing except for Terri Hatcher’s pointless role. Michelle Yeogh was very cool and needed a bigger role, but she was like the only Bond girl in history who could truly hold her own in a fight. Present day. The World is Not Enough comes out and I am right there to check it out. The critics have not been kind to it, and I have received some personal bad word of mouth on the film. So, I went to see it myself and I have to say that the movie was okay, but fell a bit short. There are enough action sequences such as speed boat chases, bomb diffusions, helicopter chases, and the obligatory sex. However, the movie is missing several things that make Bond movies cool. Here are a few of them:

  1. Opening Bond sequences should never have anything to do with the main plot. My favorite Bond movies are the ones with the separate mission such as commadeering a jet or skiing over a cliff. The opening bit in TWINE directly involves what happens throughout the film. The bit that opens the film should have been either put after the opening nude model shadow montage or rewritten as a different adventure.
  2. The villain has to kick some ass or at least kill a fellow henchmen after he lets Bond escape. Renard the invincible bad guy sucked. Some said that he is the best Bond villain ever. Heck, Brosnan had more trouble with some of the ones he faced on Remington Steele. He has a bullet in his brain that killed all of his sensory senses like taste, touch, pain, but he still sells punches and things when he shouldn’t. He can hold hot coals and punch through tables thinking he is so bad, but he forgets that he can still get burn scars and break his hand. The writers seemed to have forgot that as well.
  3. When Bond fights the main villain, it has to be somewhat epic and the villain’s death must be extra violent. Kananga "Mr. Big" in Live in Let Die got inflated until he burst. Goldfinger got sucked through a little airplane window. It’s not giving anything away to say that Renard does not make it out alive, but you can see how he gets taken out a mile away.
  4. At the end of a Bond movie when James is about to get some, the sidekick henchman like a Jaws or Nick Nack has to come back and attack Bond and his girl. Nothing in this new world. Bond takes out the bad guys and has infra red sex with Christmas Jones.
  5. Throwing the title of the movie in the middle of dialogue just to put it in. Crazy Bitch - "James, I could have given you the world." James Bond’s retort - "The world is not enough my dear." I hate that.

Best sequence is the quadruple buzzsaw helicopter killer. Earlier in the film you see this thing and you say to yourself, oh yeah, Bond is definitely going to have trouble with that in about 45 minutes. Waste of good flesh award goes to Cigar Girl. I may have to rent Il Postino to see more of her. Sophie Marceau is pretty good in the movie, and her character is stronger than most Bond girls. She is definitely a woman of mystery. Denise Richards is a very pretty girl. I won’t criticize her acting in this movie because that is unfair. The character is very traditional in it’s bond girl weakness. It is just a little disarming to see Richards say she is an atomic scientist while wearing a belly shirt. Judi Dench won a best supporting actress Oscar for Shakespeare in Love so they expanded her role in this. She is the 3rd M in the series and the first one to have more than 3 scenes. She even gets to use some of that spy talent she keeps goofing on Bond about. Robby Coltrane as Valentin Zukovsky is quite good in an Oliver Platt sort of way. He has been around since Goldeneye, and this time he gets to show off a bit in some key sequences. Brosnan is fine as Bond, though he is a little slight in build to do all the things he does. Seventy-five percent of his lines are one liner double entendre quips that get old about the second one in. I still laughed at the first things first line after Christmas Jones says that its going to be her "ass" after a certain explosion went awry. Interesting to note here is that in the preview she says "butt." Damn censors. As all the Bond movies say, he will return, and so will I. As long as they make ‘em, they have my money. I wish they would show the title of the next film like they used in the end credits. If you are a Bond fan, see it. If not, wait for video. It may disappoint. There is a small stretch where nothing happens, but the second half of the film does pick up. Final review tally: 2 ½ stars, 6 out of 10, C+, thumbs down.

Sleepy Hollow did better than expected this week with it’s $30.1 million take. Marketing, classic horror tale, Tim Burton being weird again, and Christina Ricci’s cleavage helped make this movie open well. Oh yeah, Johnny Depp did not hurt the opening like he does most of the time, or is that Skeet Ulrich? This movie opened well and became somewhat of a must see. Tim Burton has not been too commercially successful lately. Ed Wood was a critical favorite, won Martin Landau and Oscar, and is in my opinion a very good movie since I knew a bit about the life of Wood and Lugosi. It made less than $10 million at the box office I believe. Mars Attacks had the makings of a blockbuster. It had a bigger cast than Poseidon Adventure and Airport combined, and still failed to succeed. Annette Beatty syndrome hit that flick big time. Hollow had that feel of Burton’s Batman movies and Nightmare Before Christmas that people like to see him do, so it was sampled. Word of mouth seems to be good, so I expect it to still be in the top 5 next week and make more than TWINE. Burton was upset that his movie was getting an R rating. He shouldn’t be. A movie about getting one’s head cut off should get an R. It only helps box office. It is not a kid’s movie. Adults are the ones that have the paychecks that help them pay for the movie tickets. Look at Pokemon’s second week box office. A huge dropoff. Kids don’t have any money, their parents do. Johnny Depp has his first hit since A Nightmare on Elm Street. He is best known as a cop on 21 Jump Street, but his movie career has never put many asses in the seats. The opening weekend of SH outgrossed the combined total of his last 3 films total gross. All he needs now is a Matrix type role and he and Keanu can go party at the Viper Room. Christina Ricci is in her first hit since Casper. She has been doing the indy circuit lately and seeing how that is a "bust" she decided to go back to where her bread and butter lied. Horror and comedy. They always come back fans they always come back.

Being John Malkovich made it to the top 10 finally, but it will not make much more money because they did not know how to market it and it is in too few theaters. Also, who the hell is John Malkovich. They may have just called it Being Kevin Bacon or Being Johnny Depp. JM still does not realize that he is being goofed on big time. Ooo, Cameron Diaz looks all frizzy and frumpy in the movie. Not attractive at all. That is sure to bring people to check that out who prefer her with sperm in her hair. Cusack has not starred in a successful film since maybe Sure Thing. He is just as bad as Annette Beatty. Cusack means no money. Pushing Tin, Grosse Pointe Blank, and Road to Wellville failed. Con Air made some money, but could not cross a $100 million even with it’s crazy cast and the then superstar Nicholas Cage. Spike Jonze fresh off his stint as a dimwitted soldier in Three Kings directed this journey into the man known as Malkovich. He may have some talent, but we will never know if you don’t release the movie wide. No one cares if it gets Oscar nominations. It won’t be in the theaters when the nominations come out anyway. It will be ignored on video. I hope to see it one day because the story and look have a sort of Terry Gilliam feel to it and I like that type of stuff. To be honest with you I’d rather be Michael Douglas right now. He is going with Catherine Zeta Jones (insert Sean Connery accent when said) and I would really like to get his point of view on things.

TOP 10 HOLIDAY 1999 MOVIE PREVIEW

  1. End of Days - Arnold vs the Lord of Darkness. Special effects, Austrian accents, and Gabrel Byrne trying to kick ass. Should be fun. It should open quite well with its heavy Arnold S. promotion. I plan to see it and post a detailed review next week.
  2. Toy Story 2 – Buzz and Woody are back and causing more trouble. Woody gets separated from the toy chest and all the gang have to go rescue him. Woody finds some of his accessories that the kid’s mom was too cheap to buy as well as some hot Barbie dolls. Should be fun and may open at #1 next week over Arnold since it crosses over all demographics.
  3. The Green Mile – Tom Hanks returns to take over the box office with this adaption of the Stephen King antholgy about a death row inmate with healing powers. It was a great series of books, and should be a pretty good movie. Tom H. is a god when it comes to box office grosses lately, so it should make about $100 million. The jail house subject matter is hard to get over with the public, but the King and Hanks name should help unlike the Tim Robbins name on Shawshank which did not do well financially but well critically.
  4. Bicentennial Man – Robin Williams is a 200 year old robot becoming human. Williams acting crazy in a family setting usually equals movie studio profits. The catch is that is has to be good on some level. Patch Adams last year got an F from Roger Ebert and it made about $126 million or so. We shall see.
  5. Man on the Moon – Jim Carrey has his dream role as the late Andy Kaufman. AK was oh so funny. This is expected to get Carrey his first Oscar nomination. Unfortunately, most people are trying to figure out why anyone should care about Latka from Taxi. It may not do as well as people think if Carrey is too serious outside the Kaufman gags like the Tony Clifton impersonations and the Jerry Lawler/David Letterman incident, and the wrestling of women bits.
  6. The Talented Mr. Ripley – Matt Damon plays a psycho guy going after Gweneyth Paltrow. You go Matt. I’m pulling for you. This movie looks awful and will bomb.
  7. Galaxy Quest – Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Allan Rickman star in this movie about sci tv actors being mistaken for real starfleet officers when real aliens show up. Goofing on Star Trek is not going to bring in the Star Trek fans. See the box office take of this year’s Trekkies movie.
  8. Girl Interrupted – Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie go at it in this movie about women in the cuckcoo’s nest.
  9. Any Given Sunday – Al Pacino is a football coach having trouble dealing with Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx. Al has not had much luck in movies lately. This movie should continue his trend of film disappointments. See the Insiders box office totals and cut and paste them on this flick’s.
  10. Anna and the King – Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fat star in a remake of the King and I without all of that annoying singing. Foster has had her successes and Fat has yet to make it in the United States. I don’t see much success coming out of this union unless Fat has 2 guns pointed at Foster’s head.

I plan to see End of Days, Toy Story 2, and Man on the Moon. The others will have to have some real good word of mouth for me to break out the dough.

REST OF THE TOP 10 IN 10:

  1. I guess all the kids caught them all, since Pokemon dropped big time in its second week
  2. Look for Pokemon 2 to not do so well.
  3. Bone Collector is also what they should call the women who show up in James Bond movies.
  4. I guess the protests worked against Dogma judging by its low take this week.
  5. The sight of Chris Rock’s ass probably did not help either.
  6. Anywhere but in the top 5 is the name of the game for Susan and Natalie’s mother daughter quest.
  7. Here’s the inside scoop on the cigarette industry folks and that is they cause cancer in many people, but not all, so Phillip Morris and the boys just played the odds.
  8. Everyone saw the sixty minutes interview in real life for free, why pay for it?
  9. There is always the Sixth Element Luc, since no one seems to want to hear the message Joan of Arc was sending.
  10. After the failure of the Bachelor, look for Chris O’Donnell to show up in Christian movies with Casper Van Diem.

That’s it for this week’s box office report. I apologize for the lateness of it, but I wanted to get that World is Not Enough review in this week. Next week starts the holiday box office season. Ehh, not much there. Oscar worthy does not necessarily mean a movie that is worth your time to see. Coming in about 4 weeks or so will be my 1999 year in review. It should be a humdinger. It will be a special report published on January 1, 2000. Hopefully my computer is Y2K compliant. Bye for now.

HOME

ABOUT JOHN L.'S KICKIN' BOX OFFICE REPORTS     

THIS WEEK'S BOX OFFICE REPORT     LAST WEEK'S BOX OFFICE REPORT     

SPECIAL SUMMER OF 1999 MOVIE REVIEW               

SPECIAL MIDSUMMER 1999 BOX OFFICE REVIEW                                                 

THE BEST AND  WORST MOVIES OF 1998     

ARCHIVES

EMAIL:

jldmoox@xoommail.com