Tuesday December 14, 1999
''Toy'' tops box office, and that's no tall story
By Dade Hayes
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Some thought Disney might have used a toy abacus to tote up the weekend gross on ``Toy Story 2.''
But while the Mouse House may have fudged a bit -- as most studios usually do -- it still was correct in calling its animated opus
the weekend's top picture.
Woody and Buzz Lightyear edged out Warner Bros.' ``The Green Mile'' in the latter's opening weekend, official data showed
Monday.
Oscar-oriented ``Mile'' netted $18,017,152 for the Friday-to-Sunday period, but ``Toy'' nabbed its third consecutive weekend win
with a haul of $18,249,880.
``I'm very pleased with how the film opened. With one prime show a day, the gross is spectacular,'' Dan
Fellman, WB's
president of distribution, said Monday.
A day earlier, he had given a weekend estimate of $18.6 million, while Disney distribution chief Chuck Viane called $18.7 million
for ``Toy.''
These are the salad days for the animated sequel, which has grossed $140 million domestically. Disney has won the past six
Thanksgiving weekends -- and watched those pictures enjoy a Christmas crescendo. In 1995 for example, the original ``Toy
Story'' had a Christmas week gross that was 75% of its opening week.
The Mouse House also got a boost from ``Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,'' which did $12.2 million in its debut. That's a fairly big
number for an R-rated, potty-mouthed comedy.
Fellman Monday declined to comment on the record about rivals' numbers. Instead, he stressed his pic's strong exit poll results
and long-term prospects.
``The public has spoken and said they like this movie,'' Fellman asserted. ``It's going to have wonderful holiday legs, with word of
mouth and reviews.''
``Mile'' should soon surpass the $28.3 million haul of director Frank Darabont's previous effort, 1994's ``The Shawshank
Redemption.''
Reuters/Variety
The top movies in North America -- Dec. 10-12
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the
Dec. 10-12 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
Film Three-day Cumulative
Title Gross Gross
1. Toy Story 2 $18,249,880
2. The Green Mile $18,017,152
3. Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo $12,224,016
4. The World is Not Enough $ 6,158,132
5. End of Days $ 4,747,080
6. Sleepy Hollow $ 4,716,222
7. The Bone Collector $ 1,706,040
8. Dogma $ 1,187,927
9. Pokemon: The First Movie $ 1,184,559
10. Being John Malkovich $ 962,925
JOHN L: No full report this week. The Green Mile almost beat Toy Story 2, but should still do well next week. I also plan to see it and give a full review for the next report. Deuce Bigalow seems to be a hit so the magic touch of Adam Sandler continues. Bye for now.
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
EMAIL: