Thursday, February 15, 2001

'Hannibal' Devours $58 Million at Box Office

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - North American moviegoers were hungry for Hannibal the Cannibal at the weekend.

``Hannibal,'' a thriller starring Sir Anthony Hopkins in a long-awaited follow-up to the 1991 hit ``The Silence of the Lambs,'' grossed a record-breaking $58 million in its first three days of release in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

If the numbers hold when final data are issued on Monday, ''Hannibal'' will replace 2000's ``Mission: Impossible II'' ($57.9 million) as the third-highest bow in movie history, after 1997's ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' ($72 million) and 1999's ''Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace'' ($64.8 million). It also set new records for a non-summer opening, an R-rated release and for a release by domestic distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

``I must confess I expected it to be big, but not this big,'' ''Hannibal'' producer Dino De Laurentiis told Reuters from Berlin.

Indeed most industry expectations were in the $35 million- $40 million range. MGM distribution president Larry Gleason said he had hoped to surpass the $42 million bow of the 2000 horror spoof ``Scary Movie,'' which held the record for an R-rated release.

Audience Loves The Villain

The film stars Hopkins as elegant cannibal Hannibal Lecter. When he's not disemboweling or dining on his hapless victims, he engages in a transatlantic cat-and-mouse game with FBI agent Clarice Starling, played by Julianne Moore. Jodie Foster played Starling in ``Lambs,'' but opted not to return, reportedly because of the new film's violence. Ridley Scott (''Gladiator'') directed. The original was directed by Jonathan Demme.

De Laurentiis, in Berlin for the film's screening on Sunday night at the German capital's annual film festival, said audiences have conferred hero status on Hannibal Lecter.

``When he's forced to kill, he kills somebody the audience wants to kill too,'' he said. ``'Hannibal' is a picture in its own. It's a picture that will be remembered forever.''

He said Hopkins, who received a $10 million-plus salary for ''Hannibal,'' had asked to be in a sequel. This was confirmed by MGM's Gleason. Whereas ``Silence'' and ``Hannibal'' were based on novels by Thomas Harris, the new project would probably bypass the book stage and go straight to script, Gleason said.

As for the violent scenes, both De Laurentiis and Gleason noted that they were staged in an understated way with irony and humor.

``It's playing much more fun than violent, in a weird way,'' Gleason said. ``There's a lot of nervous laughter (among the audience).''

Welcome News For Mgm

The film, which cost about $80 million to produce, was released in the United States and Canada by MGM, and will be handled internationally by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal. ``Hannibal'' opened strongly in De Laurentiis' native Italy at the weekend, and reaches German theaters next Friday. The studios will split profits 50/50.

The ``Hannibal'' bow is welcome news for Santa Monica, California-based MGM, which scores big hits only with its James Bond franchise. Its previous record opening was $35.5 million for the 1999 Bond film ``The World Is Not Enough.'' The previous non-summer record was $57.3 million for ``Toy Story 2,'' a November 1999 release. (''The Phantom Menace'' came out May 19, which is considered summer in Hollywood.)

Elsewhere at this weekend's box office, the romantic comedy ''The Wedding Planner'' (Columbia Pictures) slipped to No. 2 with $7.8 million after two weekends at No. 1. The 17-day haul for the Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey vehicle stands at $38 million.

``Saving Silverman,'' a low-budget teen-targeted comedy also released by Columbia, opened at No. 3 with a modest $7.4 million.

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (Sony Pictures Classics) rose one place to No. 4 in its 10th weekend with $5.1 million. With $60 million banked so far, the Chinese-language martial arts romance has surpassed the $57.6 million total of Oscar- winning Italian comedy ``Life is Beautiful'' to become the highest-grossing foreign-language film in North America.

Columbia and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.

Rounding out the top five was Tom Hanks' ``Cast Away'' with $5.0 million. The survival saga's total stands at $209.7 million. It was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc.

The top 12 films grossed about $107.6 million, up 49 percent from last weekend, and up 43 percent from the year-ago period, when ``Scream 3'' enjoyed its second weekend at No. 1.

The top movies in North America -- Feb. 9-11

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the February 9-11 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. Hannibal .......... $58,003,121 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $58,003,121

2. The Wedding Planner .......... $7,704,284 

 BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $37,918,568

3. Saving Silverman .......... $5,404,223 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $7,411,852

4. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon .......... $5,157,519 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $60,335,388

5. Cast Away .......... $4,815,748 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $209,798,303

6. Save the Last Dance .......... $4,432,404 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $74,515,420

7. Traffic .......... $3,826,454 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $70,891,867

8. Valentine .......... $3,095,782 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $15,854,156

9. O Brother, Where Art Thou? .......... $3,071,948 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $21,086,088

10. Chocolat .......... $2,611,120 

BOX OFFICE SO FAR:  $26,580,585

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.:  Huge week of  box office goodness this week.  Hannibal breaks all sorts of records, the Razzie Awards are announced, and the Academy has selected the nominees for this year's Oscars telecast.  I have a full review of Hannibal as well as the list of all of the significant movie nominees. 

HANNIBAL - FULL REVIEW

Where are all of the good guys? Why is it that the most popular cinematic icons in the last 30 years are mostly villains? The Godfather was a gangster, Darth Vader was a Dark Lord of the Sith, Freddy Kruger was a child killer, and Hannibal Lector likes to eat rude and annoying people while tormenting the ultra righteous. This week's number one movie is the sequel to the best picture winner, Silence of the Lambs which was sort of a sequel to Manhunter which all three are base on the Thomas Harris Books Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal. Manhunter did not cause much of a stir when it was released, but Silence of the Lambs had a much better marketing campaign, script, and star power so it became a monster hit and received 5 Oscar wins. It is also famous for having the most rambling Oscar speech in the history of the show with Jonathan Demme stuttering all over his thank yous. When Anthony Hopkins was greeted with a standing ovation from the Academy Award Show crowd for portraying a murderous modern cannibal, I cringed a bit. Should they really be cheering an actor who portrays such a seductively psychotic character? I felt like a certain Democratic Senator with too much free time at that moment. Hopkins and Jodi Foster were good in their roles, but to this day I believe that SOTL should not have won best picture let alone be nominated. Fava beans and Chianti became household names after that movie and Hopkins began to show up every 6 months in one goofy movie after another. I guess Clu Gallagher was sick the day they were casting for Nixon. Foster became full of herself and still to this day only makes vanity projects. Demme has not been heard of since his Oprah movie bombed. Thomas Harris, the creator of this mess likes to take his time in writing his books. It was 10 years between SOTL and Hannibal, but after reading Hannibal it seems he may have spent more like 10 weeks instead of a decade to come up with the story. Hannibal did not seem to have the passion or enthusiasm the first 2 books had. Harris seemed to just write the book because he left the second one open for a sequel forcing him to write the third or live the the hate mail. Now, I will not try to compare the book Hannibal to the movie because that is unfair. Movies can never be like the book because film cannot show the detail or the inner workings of the characters minds as well. Things must be eliminated or changed to stay within a reasonable length. Hannibal does not warrant an 8 hour ABC miniseries, so edits had to be done. This review of Hannibal will focus on the movie itself and not the book. In the new film, it is 10 years after Lector escaped custody and he is living the high life in Italy. However, old enemies are conspiring to take him down, especially one Mason Verger who was disfigured by Lector many moons ago. Verger is played by Gary Oldman under a bunch of prosthetics to make him look weird, but he mostly looks silly. Any hope of horror deemed by that makeup job was over once Oldman went into his Dr. Evil vocalisms. It also would have helped if the director, Ridley Scott, did not feel he had to show closeups of the Verger head every 10 minutes. More shadow and a big reveal later in the film could have helped. The audience becomes to used to his disfigurement, so he becomes no stranger looking than Oldman as Sid Vicious. Verger has amassed enough wealth since his last Lector encounter that he is able to put together a clumsy plan to apprehend the bad doctor and feed him to some wild boars. So, for the first half of the movie, we see Lector playing mind games with the police detective trying to bring Lector to Verger and collect the reward money. While Lector is making cannibal puns in Florence, his arch nemesis/girlfriend, Clarice Starling, played this time by Julianne Moore is having her own troubles. She has to take the fall for a botched FBI attack that really was no one's fault but the criminals and is having trouble dealing with the people who want to get her out of the FBI. Why the FBI would spend more time trying to discredit an honored member of the organization who has proved her worth in the past is beyond me. What it is used for is as a device to remind Lector that he should start teasing the upstart FBI agent again as well as creating a villain, played by Ray Liotta, whose sole purpose is to get a comeuppance at the end of the movie. All of this plot really leads to nothing. Lector and Starling talk on the phone and come face to face a couple of times, but when the movie is over, we are left with a so what feeling. Let's look at the 2 key performances of Lector (Anthony Hopkins) and Starling (Julianne Moore). Hopkins is having fun, but this role really does not stretch him as an actor since Lector is perceived as some complicated person who may be more vigilante than serial killer just comes off as a comedy one liner-strike movie killer. All of his good lines are in the preview about eating wives, "hello Clarice," and my personal favorite, "goody goody." Lector is never really shown eating anyone in this movie even though it is hinted at a whole lot. There is a flashback of an attack that is similar to the Charles Napier munch a munch in SOTL. This is good since this is supposed to be a somewhat serious adult thriller and not a teen slasher pic, so the less is more theory can apply here. Hopkins plays the character for modern horror movie laughs especially when he wryly says "okie dokie" before he disembowels someone who had gotten on his last nerve. Sir Anthony is such a good actor that you become sympathetic with the character hoping that he gets away with it all while at the same time you hope Clarice tracks him down and puts him away. Speaking of Clarice, or as Lector calls her "Clareeesse," Julianne Moore had some fairly big shoes to fill replacing Jodi Foster who got her second Oscar for playing the same character. Moore is okay, but is never given anything to do as compelling as grabbing a screaming lamb out of a barn. It looks like she looked at more of Gillian Anderson on the X-Files than Jodi Foster in Silence of the Lambs. Her accent is very annoying to me personally since I hate when actors have to fake accents especially bad Southern ones. It interferes with their acting when they have to concentrate on every word sounding consistent. Hollywood has no confidence that a real Southern actor can be in one of these movies. Foster's was probably worse in SOTL since I am haunted to this day by her saying "tell me his name doctor." Moore sits in a room looking at crime photos and computer screens for much of the movie and does not get involved with Lector until almost halfway into the plot. That is fine, to build up the anticipation, but when they do meet and their 2 big scenes are playing hot and cold at a merry-go-round and dining on the strangest dish of all time then the payoff becomes a little less great. It was hoped by the public that Lector and Starling would have more interaction, but they really don't. You never get to know anything new about the stars. They are the same going in as they are going out. No Lector as a young man getting into the psychologist business for the first time, no word on what Clarice has been up to for 10 years, and no real villain since Lector is portrayed more as an anti-hero since the people he kills are slimier than he is to some degree. Verger looks like he would fit well in the sequel to Unbreakable than this movie. Besides being a little slow, little character development, and somewhat silly, the main criticism is that the film is too gory. Well, that is not necessarily true. There are 2 very graphic scenes, one pretty graphic, and just the overall general grossness of looking at Verger's left eye floating around his eye socket. The main violence is pretty standard shocker fare with throats cut and blood spurting. Not for the overly sensitive, but expected by the fans of the series. The first super gross scene deals with someone having their intestines leaking from their belly, but it is shown in shadows without a closeup of blood and guts. A good shocker that should placate the voyeurs of the macabre. However, there is a scene that will go down as one of the most infamous in film history, or at least since the cult horror classic "Blood Sucking Freaks." It gives new meaning to the term, "brain food." An obvious joke, but appropriate. This scene was a bit too over the top for the general audience thinking they are seeing some nice cannibal movie but then are hit with something so ridiculous that you will either groan or laugh hysterically. I did a little of both. This was probably the scene that made Jodi Foster screen her phone calls from Ridley Scott. The movie has a different ending from the book, but it does not really matter. The book sort of ends the series, but the movie leaves things open for a possible sequel which is good since $58 million first weekend means people like the characters and basic story. Neither the book or the movie ending has pleased fans of the first 2 stories, but hey, those are the breaks these days. I liked the movie more than most critics, but I find it somewhat empty and pointless. The book and the movie were made to make a quick buck and both seemed a bit rushed. More character back story and a stronger plot with better motivations. If this was supposed to be some hidden love story about Lector's unrequited love for Starling, then it failed. This movie is like another episode in the continuing adventures of Hannibal and Clarice like a regular television series. A stand alone story with no real conclusion. Final Review: 2 1/2 stars out of 5; 5 1/2 out of 10; C+; thumbs down. See it if you saw the first 2 movies, like Hopkins, like Moore, like Ridley Scott, or like lobotomies. Miss it and wait for the Red Dragon/Manhunter remake that is the planned next installment.

In the last year there have been 2 actresses I have developed crushes on. One is Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the other is Amanda Peet from "The Whole Nine Yards." My adoration for Zhang is well known to regular readers of the box office report, and my puppy love for Peet is known to those with long memories. This week, Miss Peet is in another movie, Saving Silverman, where she plays a crazy woman who is underestimated by the men in her life. She is also in another movie that is being ravaged by the mainstream critics. Peet has the potential to break out as a huge star, but she is still stuck on Jack and Jill, has repetitive taste in movie roles, and looks a bit too much like Julia Roberts to establish her own identity. This movie has her playing the girlfriend of that "American Pie" humper, Jason Biggs. She is lovely and friendly enough to Biggs, but her constant dates with him are disrupting his life with his best friends played by Jack (Tenacious D) Black and Steve "Out of Sight" Zahn who decide to kidnap her and fake her death so Biggs can get together with his old high school sweetheart. Okay, that premise has enough problems, but the 3 main guys are also part of a Neil Diamond cover band. Looks like we have another writer on peyote script here fans. The preview for this film actually made it look pretty funny and I was looking forward to seeing it for a while but I read a lot of reviews and it turned me away. I hate to fall under that trap, but I did. The movie looks like it is stolen by the antics of Black and Zahn leaving the lead Biggs looking stupid again and Peet continuing to be ignored. Even though I like Peet when I see her, she will still have to be in a movie that is worth my time and money. When I get the chance, I will rent "Whipped" and see if it was as bad as people say it was and then review it. If it sucks, she may be off my crush list. Jack Black is still the anti-Phillip Seymour Hoffman and may one day break out on his own in a Tom Arnold/Bobcat Goldthwait sort of way. As for Zahn, he should creeps me out because when he has a mustache he looks 10 years older than he actually is and I get confused. He is a good actor, but needs to make a jump to more leading actor than sidekick or his career is doomed. Biggs is still living off of American Pie like every other person in that movie and just like every person in that movie is failing magnificently. Don't look for Saving Silverman 2.

O Brother Where Art Thou has been around for about a month but has finally reached the top 10. O goody goody for me. I thought I was going to be able to avoid having to write about another bad George Clooney movie. This is another one of those magical Coen Brother movies that movie critics salivate over. The story is supposedly based on Homer's Odyssey but in 1930's America. Clooney plays an escaped convict named, get this, Ulysses, who along with 2 other halfwits try to make it home to their families just like Homer's hero tried to make it home to Penelope before she was wed by rival suitors. Along the way Clooney and stable come across John Goodman as a one-eyed cyclops bible salesman who from the previews looks to be involved in some KKK activity, some Siren seductreses, and some other vague and blatant references to the ancient story. If that was not enough, Clooney gets to sing, I think since he is probably lip synching to someone else's voice. If it is him, I'm sorry. This movie was supposed to be a hit with Clooney coming off the success of "The Perfect Storm" and the Coens still riding the mainstream respect they received with Fargo, but it has not happened yet. Two reasons. The first is the movie is doing the old limited release/gain word of mouth/go wide when people no longer care route and it has failed it. The movie made the top ten this week because there is not that much left out there people want to see after Hannibal is sold out. If it had been released wide back in early January with a strong ad campaign, it may have had a chance, but now it is just picking up scraps. The other thing that is killing it is Clooney putting on the phony Southern accent. He sounds awful and fake. Holly Hunter is an Oscar winning actress with a very strong REAL Southern accent, but is barely seen. In fact, the movie she won the Oscar for, "Piano," had her as a mute the whole time. As I said in my Hannibal review, Hollywood has no love for true Southern accented actors. Matthew McConaughey is only getting as much work as he is because the women like his smile, but he is no box office draw. I have to believe I am not the only one who feels this way about the lack of real Southern accents in movies. There should be a bigger protest than people just ignoring the film. A tip for Joel and Ethan Coen. Come up with your own ideas and something that has been around for 3000 years. Originality is always better.

1.    As of this writing it looks like J-Lo is dumping Puffy as her boyfriend.

2.    I guess Lopez won't be needing a wedding planner after all.

3.    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is now the most successful foreign language film to be released in the United States.

4.    CTHD has a good chance to reach the number one spot at the box office it its release goes wider and Hannibal's word of mouth fails to get repeat business.

5.    Here is the Zhang Ziyi pic of the week:

6.    Castaway may give Tom Hanks his third Oscar win.

7.    Save the Last Dance should not have to worry about coming out so early in the year and being forgotten by the Oscar nominating committees.

8.    Traffic is one of 2 movies up for Best Picture that were directed by Steven Soderbergh.

9.    Valentine is not bringing in the couples looking for a nice romantic time at the movie theater to celebrate this great national holiday.

10.    Chocolat, with the help of the Miramax marketing machine, is now up for Best Picture of the year to the surprise of Cameron Crowe.

Gladiator and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are the big nominee winners for this year's Oscar telecast.  But this race is still somewhat up for grabs.  Traffic has a chance and Chocolat is made by Miramax and they are always strong with the Academy voters.  The only sure thing seems to be Julia Roberts for Best Actress for her Erin Brockovich performance.  Also, CTHD should be a lock as best foreign film.  I suck at Oscar predictions, so I will keep it to a minimum.  Kate Hudson is a perfect winner for Best Supporting Actress in the tradition of Marisa Tomei, Anna Paquin, and Mira Sorvino.  I disagree personally, but hey my vote does not count.  It should be a good show with Steve Martin as the host.  We shall see on March 25, 2001.

The List of Oscar Nominees

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Reuters) - The following is a list of nominees for the 2001 Oscars, which will be given out on March 25 in Los Angeles.

Best Motion Picture

``Chocolat''

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

``Erin Brockovich''

``Gladiator''

``Traffic''

Best Actor In A Leading Role

Javier Bardem, ``Before Night Falls''

Russell Crowe, ``Gladiator''

Tom Hanks, ``Cast Away''

Ed Harris, ``Pollock''

Geoffrey Rush, ``Quills''

Best Actress In A Leading Role

Joan Allen, ``The Contender''

Juliette Binoche, ``Chocolat''

Ellen Burstyn, ``Requiem for a Dream''

Laura Linney, ``You Can Count On Me''

Julia Roberts, ``Erin Brockovich''

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Jeff Bridges, ``The Contender''

Willem Dafoe, ``Shadow of the Vampire''

Benicio Del Toro, ``Traffic''

Albert Finney, ``Erin Brockovich''

Joaquin Phoenix, ``Gladiator''

Best Actress In A Supporting Role

Judi Dench, ``Chocolat''

Marcia Gay Harden, ``Pollock''

Kate Hudson, ``Almost Famous''

Frances McDormand, ``Almost Famous''

Julie Walters, ``Billy Elliot''

Achievement In Art Direction

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

``Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas''

``Gladiator''

``Quills''

``Vatel''

Achievement In Cinematography

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

``Gladiator''

``Malna''

``O Brother, Where Art Thou?''

``The Patriot''

Achievement In Costume Design

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

``Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas''

``Gladiator''

``102 Dalmatians''

``Quills''

Achievement In Directing

Stephen Daldry, ``Billy Elliot''

Ang Lee, ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

Steven Soderbergh, ``Erin Brockovich''

Ridley Scott, ``Gladiator''

Steven Soderbergh, ``Traffic''

Best Documentary Feature

``Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport''

``Legacy''

``Long Night's Journey Into Day''

``Scottsboro: An American Tragedy''

``Sound and Fury''

Best Documentary Short Subject

``Big Mama''

``Curtain Cal??Man on Lincoln's Nose''

``On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom''

Achievement In Film Editing

``Almost Famous''

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

``Gladiator''

``Traffic''

``Wonder Boys''

Best Foreign Language Film

``Amores Perros'' Mexico

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' Taiwan

``Divided We Fall'' Czech Republic

``Everybody Famous'' Belgium

``The Taste of Others'' France

Achievement In Makeup

``The Cell''

``Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas''

``Shadow of the Vampire''

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

``Chocolat''

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

``Gladiator''

``Malna''

``The Patriot''

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

``A Fool In Love'' from ``Meet the Parents''

Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

``I've Seen It All'' from ``Dancer in the Dark''

Music by Bjrk

Lyric by Lars von Trier and Sjon Sigurdsson

``A Love Before Time'' from ``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

Music by Jorge Calandrelli and Tan Dun

Lyric by James Schamus

``My Funny Friend and Me'' from ``The Emperor's New Groove''

Music by Sting and David Hartley

Lyric by Sting

``Things Have Changed'' from ``Wonder Boys''

Music and Lyric by Bob Dylan

Best Animated Short Film

``Father and Daughter''

``The Periwig-Maker''

``Rejected'' BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

``By Courier''

``One Day Crossing''

``Quiero Ser (I want to be)''

``Seraglio''

``A Soccer Story (Una Historia de Futebol)''

Achievement In Sound

``Cast Away''

``Gladiator''

``The Patriot''

``The Perfect Storm''

``U-571''

Achievement In Sound Editing

``Space Cowboys''

``U-571''

Achievement In Visual Effects

``Gladiator''

``Hollow Man''

``The Perfect Storm''

Adapted Screenplay

``Chocolat''

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''

``O Brother, Where Art Thou?''

``Traffic''

``Wonder Boys''

Original Screenplay

``Almost Famous''

``Billy Elliot''

``Erin Brockovich''

``Gladiator''

``You Can Count On Me''

The other award nominations announced were my favorite, The Razzies.  It looks like quite the sweep for Battlefield Earth, but Little Nicky could break in there.  I disagree with the Arnold S. nominations since I liked The 6th Day.  One day they will air a special show on FOX that announces the winners instead of the small press conference.  Here are the nominees:

That is it for this week's report.  More next week, and maybe some nose pick reviews.  Bye for now.