Fans Pick <i>Bone</i> At Box Office
In last weekend's box office returns, Denzel Washington's new movie, The Bone Collector, opened stronger than expected, and Ashley Judd passed a milestone, reports Early Show Contributor Gail O'Neill in her weekly Box Office Plus segment.
House on Haunted Hill lost 50 percent of its audience and fell to No. 3. But Double Jeopardy added about $4.5 million in box office receipts to pass the $100 million mark.
Here is a roundup:
1. The Bone Collector, $17.2 million.
The film opened stronger than expected. The audience was drawn in evenly by Denzel Washington and the promise of action and suspense. The audience was a mix of old and young. Exit polls show that this movie rated very well with the audience.
Washington's last few films have had large openings, but have had significant drop-offs in the second weekend, with disappointing final totals. His last really successful movie was Crimson Tide, in 1995.
2. The Bachelor, $8 million.
This is considered a disappointment, especially since its numbers may fall even lower when final box-office figures are released Monday afternoon.
3. House on Haunted Hill, $7.8 million.
This movie experienced a big drop-off from its No. 1 spot the prior weekend, losing 50 percent of its audience.
4. The Insider, $7 million.
This film is deemed a bit of a disappointment. If word of mouth catches on, it may end up like L.A. Confidential and become a fall sleeper, taking in between $50 million to $60 million.
5. Double Jeopardy, $4.5 million.
This is the sleeper hit of the fall, having just passed the $100 million mark.
Rounding out the top 10 for the weekend:
6. The Best Man, $4.3 million.
7. American Beauty, $3.3 million.
8. The Sixth Sense, $3.2 million.
9. Music of the Heart, $3 million.
10. Fight Club, $2.5 million.
"That [The Bone Collector] opened at $17 million was above expectations, so we'll see if stands tight or if it falls," says Holly Millea, senior editor at Premiere magazine.
"His last few films have done well opening, but have dropped off dramatically," she says. "What will put Denzel back on the map is The Hurricane, for which he took a huge pay cut. He's really Oscar material in that film. So, that is the movie that will keep up his stock."
While The Hurricane doesn't open until Christmas, the fall phenomenon continues to be Double Jeopardy, the 15th movie of 1999 to break the $100 million mark.
"Number one, it's a film about women being empowered and seeking and getting revenge," says Millea. "And number two, it has Tommy Lee Jones, so you are pulling [in] women and pulling in men."
"It's not a great movie," she adds. "The script is weak, but I think it's a great popcorn movie."
(Jodie Foster was oriinally cast as the female lead in Double Jeopardy, but she had to bow out when she became pregnant.)
Further down the list, at No. 14, is Being John Malkovich, which took in $1.4 million in only 175 theaters. The movie stars Cameron Diaz and John Cusack, who plays a puppeteer who finds a portal into the mind of John Malkovich, who plays himself. This complicated premise demanded an innovative marketing plan from USA Films.
Says Russell Schwartz, president of USA Films, "Anything you could think this movie could be, people have thought it. I mean, is it a documentary? Um, why him?"
Although Being John Malkovich received very favorable reviews, the filmmakers knew they couldn't rely on critics alone to sell tickets. So they launched a marketing campaign to make use of the Internet, television, and word of mouth.
"We actually did a TV spot that looked like a terrible infomercial, and we ran it only between midnight and 6 o'clock in the morning," says Schwartz. "The best thing that could happen, which is what has been happening for the last two weekends now, is that people have been coming out of the movie saying, 'You have to go see it.'"
More people will be able to see Being John Malkovich in the coming weeks, as it continues to add more screens throughout the country.
Joining Malkovich next weekend in theaters will be Susan Sarandon in Anywhere But Here. Will she be anywhere on the box office chart? We'll find out next week.