Entertainment

Solid <i>Hollow,</i> Bouncing <i>Cowboys</i>

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 14, 2000 / 10:31 AM EDT / CBS

This past weekend, a bunch of old pros ruled movie theaters across the United States. It's not often that there's a tie for first place, reports CBS News Early Show Contributor Laurie Hibberd. But it happened this time.

Hollow Man held on to the No. 1 spot, but was joined at the top by Space Cowboys, which seems to be getting better with age, jumping up from the No. 3 spot.

Here are the numbers, according to Hollywood.com:

Tied for No. 1: Space Cowboys and Hollow Man,
$13.1 million in box office revenue.
No. 3: Autumn in New York, $11.5 million.
No. 4: The Replacements, $11.1 million.
No. 5: Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, $10.3 million.

The fact that Hollow Man held on to the No. 1 spot was quite a surprise, explains Hibberd, because there were three strong movies opening: The Replacements, Autumn in New York, and Bless the Child, also a thriller, which might have given Hollow Man some direct competition.

The box office numbers might be low because it's the end of summer, and movie companies tend to release their weaker films at this time of year. Then again, it rained all weekend on the East Coast, and that should have meant that more people headed to the movies. They didn't.

Space Cowboys leapt from No. 3 to No. 1, and that's something that doesn't happen to a movie very often. Hibberd says the last time it happened was when There's Something About Mary turned into a surprise monster hit. "Good buzz, really good word-of-mouth is the touchstone of any hit movie," Hibberd adds. "(Space Cowboys) is only attracting mature audiences. I don't know if it will do much crossover business."

Critics had not held much hope for Autumn in New York, even though it stars Winona Ryder and Richard Gere, because MGM did not make it available for advance screening. Usually, that's a signal that the movie's a stinker.

"I went into this movie not knowing what to expect, and kind of wanting to hate it," Hibberd says. "And I didn't hate it. I liked it. It got me, and I cried at the end." She adds wryly, "I'll probably be the most hated person in America for saying that."

The feel-good movie of the weekend: The Replacements, the football comedy starring Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman, which had some audiences cheering. The story focuses on a bunch of underdogs who come up from behind to win the day, says Hibberd, who adds, "It was a really fun movie."