Thursday, September 20, 2001

Click here for a list of links to help support this country.

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``Hardball,'' a new baseball melodrama starring Keanu Reeves, led the North American box office at the weekend, when overall ticket sales were surprisingly strong given the distraction of last Tuesday's terror attacks in New York and Washington.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, the top 12 films tallied $54 million for the three days beginning Friday, up 43 percent from the year-ago period, when ``The Watcher'' -- a thriller also starring Reeves -- was tops amid competition from the summer Olympic Games.

``It's obvious that some people are a little stir crazy and need to get out of the house,'' said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures

``Hardball'' grossed an estimated $10.1 million in its first three days of release, according to Paramount Pictures, which distributed the film in North America. A spokeswoman estimated the film could have made between $12 million and $15 million if it had not been for the attacks.

The box office is traditionally weak at this time of the year, when studios burn off modest releases before rolling out their big fall projects. Indeed this weekend's tally was the lowest of the year for the second consecutive weekend, off 12 percent from Sept. 7-9.

Overall business on Friday was weak because of memorial services and candlelight vigils, but it bounced back Saturday and was expected to be similarly strong Sunday, said Wayne Lewellen, Paramount's president of distribution. Final data for the three-day period will be released on Monday.

In ``Hardball,'' Reeves plays a baseball coach in inner-city Chicago. Paramount's publicity efforts were hampered by the television networks' commercial-free coverage of the attacks. Reeves had promoted ``Hardball'' at a press junket last weekend, but none of those stories have run yet, the Paramount spokeswoman said. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. .

``GLASS HOUSE'' NOT A SMASH

Another new release, ``The Glass House,'' grabbed the No. 2 spot with a weak $6.1 million. The thriller, starring Leelee Sobieski, cost about $22 million to make and should be profitable, said a Columbia Pictures spokesman. The Sony Corp. -owned studio adopted what he called ``a very focused campaign'' on younger females aged 13 and above. Sobieski plays a newly orphaned teen taken in by evil guardians.

Last weekend's champion, ``The Musketeer,'' slipped to No. 3 with $5.3 million in its second round, taking its 10-day total to $17.6 million. The film, a swashbuckling take on Alexandre Dumas' ``The Three Musketeers,'' was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal.

The sole wide new release next weekend is ``Glitter,'' the feature headlining debut of pop singer Mariah Carey. Two other films scheduled for that date have been delayed because of the attacks. ``Training Day,'' starring Denzel Washington as a corrupt L.A. cop, will now open on Oct. 5. ``Big Trouble,'' an ensemble comedy starring Tim Allen, is still awaiting a new date.

While Americans have shown that they are prepared to take in new movies, some studio executives said promotional efforts would continue to be affected since actors and directors might feel uncomfortable resuming the usual publicity grind.

``I think it's pretty difficult for a major movie star to sit on a couch and talk about a new film,'' said Warner Bros.' Fellman.

At least in the case of Twentieth Century Fox's ``Glitter,'' Carey has been out of the public eye for several weeks dealing with a mental breakdown.

Rounding out the top five films were the Nicole Kidman thriller ``The Others'' (Dimension) up one place to No. 4 with $4.8 million in its sixth weekend; and the urban romantic comedy ``Two Can Play That Game'' (Screen Gems) down three places to No. 5 with $4.7 million in its second weekend. Their respective totals are $73.6 million and $13.9 million.

Elsewhere, Julie Andrews' ``The Princess Diaries'' added $2.6 million to pass the century mark in its seventh weekend. The Walt Disney Pictures comedy, which slipped two places to No. 11, has pulled in $100.1 million to date.

Dimension Films and Walt Disney Pictures are units of Walt Disney Co. and Screen Gems is a unit of Sony Corp. Fox is a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc . Warner Bros. is a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc .

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the September 14-16 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. Hardball .......... $9,386,342

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $9,386,342

2. The Glass House .......... $5,738,448

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $5,738,448

3. The Musketeer .......... $5,471,960

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,771,970

4. Two Can Play That Game .......... $4,604,843

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $13,813,963

5. The Others .......... $4,574,678

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $73,422,887

6. Rush Hour 2 .......... $4,092,375

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $211,149,100

7. Jeepers Creepers .......... $3,844,246

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $29,665,575

8. American Pie 2 .......... $3,601,440

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $135,928,054

9. Rat Race .......... $3,553,183

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $47,689,781

10. Rock Star .......... $3,388,545

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $11,045,383

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

www.redcross.org

John L.: The Box Office Report has been quite erratic the last several weeks, and then on September 11, 2001 at 8:48 am it became pretty pointless or non-significant. What fun is it to goof on movies when 6000 people have just been murdered. So this website has been lacking in updates as of late and once I finally catch up, things will be smoother. The World Trade Center and the Pentagon were/are very important to this country. But, the people who worked in those buildings are much more important. I did not go see any of the movies that came out this week not because of the terrorist attacks, but because they just don't hold any interest for me during war or peace time. Everyone on the net has given their overall take on the attacks, and they all say the same thing. Honor those who have perished and get the people who planned this. The nation has become very nationalistic over this and that is a good thing, but when people start to forget the meaning of this event, that is the time to remember to keep doing the things we are doing now. Donate money to charities, give blood, say hello to a stranger, learn about other cultures and religions, don't hate someone just for the way they look, travel, buy stock, go to movies, watch television, listen to your favorite song, read a book, make love, play video games, ask that someone out on a date, hug your kids, run in a marathon, hold a door open for someone who has their hands filled, don't park in a handicapped spot even you really are going to be just a minute, go up to a fireman and say thank you, go up to a policeman and say thank you, when you see a veteran say thank you very much, write to the President of the United States and say thank you, don't live your life in fear, live your life, copy a picture of the World Trade Center buildings and save it on your computer the way it looked on September 10, 2001, and realize that the United States is the greatest land on Earth and if more countries tried to be like us in spirit things would be a whole lot better. The war on terror will go on for centuries to come. A few bombing strikes and a ground invasion may halt some things, but the ones who perpetrated the horrendous acts of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 are not the only psychos running around. It has been proven you do not have to be a Muslim radical to kill lots of people. Terror comes in all shapes and sizes and will be impossible to stop in the long term. I hope that movies like "Collateral Damage" continue to be made even though they deal with terrorism. Those movies need to be done more than ever now. Also, any film or television show that has pictures of the World Trade Center in them should let them remain. The coolest thing I have seen in months is that shot of the helicopter trapped in a spider web between the twin towers in the Spiderman: the Movie trailer. It doesn't help to keep destroying those buildings. Next week's box office report will be more normal as we enter a new stage of existence. Terrorism does suck. Bye for now.