Entertainment

Heavenly Opening For 'From Hell'

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 22, 2001 / 2:13 PM EDT / CBS

Three big movies hit the theaters this weekend. But it was Johnny Depp who scared up the most ticket sales, reports Contributor Laurie Hibberd for The Early Show.

Depp ("From Hell") beat out heavyweights Drew Barrymore ("Riding in Cars With Boys") and Robert Redford ("The Last Castle") for the top spot at the box office this weekend. Here are the numbers, according to Hollywood.com:

"From Hell," $11.3 million
"Riding in Cars With Boys," $10.8 million
"Training Day," $9.5 million
"Bandits," $8.4 million
"The Last Castle," $7.1 million
"Serendipity," $5.8 million
"Corky Romano," $5.3 million
Don't Say a Word, $4.4 million
"Zoolander," $3.3 million
"Iron Monkey," $3.2 million

It is no surprise that "From Hell" won out, says Hibberd. Horror movies always do well – the only thing that beats them is a big "shoot 'em up" blockbuster action flick. With Halloween coming up, "From Hell" is bound to continue to do well at the box office. It is a true rendition of the saga of Jack the Ripper and, as Hibberd points out, "People love to be scared."

The combined star power of Redford and James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") could not give "The Last Castle" a big opening. Hibberd offers a theory that the marketing team misfired on this movie: "Did you see the trailer for it? It was like a rock video. So what they were doing is promoting it like this hot, hip, like rock music video movie and actually they're alienating the core audience who would see a movie that has Robert Redford and James Gandolfini."

The fact that "Bandits," starring Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton, dropped two spots is considered a "huge" disappointment, according to Hibberd, who adds, "It's one of those movies that got a raw deal -- came out at the wrong time and no one gave it its due. Really too bad."

A year ago, the market was dominated by two films: "Meet the Parents" and "Remember the Titans."

"This is as solid a crop of films as you can have at this time of year, but there's nothing tearing it up like 'Meet the Parents' did," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "It's the calm before the storm now, waiting for the big holiday releases."

The blockbuster parade begins in two weeks. "Monsters Inc.," from the makers of "Toy Story," opens Nov. 2, with "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" coming just before Thanksgiving and "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" following in December.