> **THIS WEEKEND** The family adventure film **Spy Kids** fended off competition from four new releases to top the North American box office for the second weekend in a row. The crime thriller **Along Came a Spider** and the drug drama **Blow** both opened impressively, the animated sequel **Pokemon 3** enjoyed a moderate bow, and the time-travel comedy **Just Visiting** was dead on arrival. Overall receipts once again outperformed sales from a year ago.
> Miramax’s latest franchise feature **Spy Kids** collected $17.1M in its sophomore frame to remain in the number one spot, according to final studio figures. The Robert Rodriguez-directed picture slipped a reasonable 36% and has captured $48.3M in only ten days. At its current pace, the $35M-budgeted film could reach the $100M mark domestically.
> Morgan Freeman enjoyed a strong second-place opening for his kidnapping thriller **Along Came A Spider** which grossed $16.7M over the Friday-to-Sunday period. Paramount launched the R-rated picture in 2,530 locations and averaged a strong $6,606 per theater. The opening for **Spider** surpassed the $13.2M bow of 1997’s **Kiss the Girls** which first introduced moviegoers to Freeman as detective Alex Cross. That film, which also starred Ashley Judd, went on to gross $60.5M. **Spider**, which co-stars Monica Potter, looks to go beyond that level.
> New Line’s edgy drama **Blow**, starring Johnny Depp, premiered in third place with $12.4M from 2,249 theaters. Averaging a solid $5,533, the Ted Demme-helmed film finds Depp playing out the rise and fall of cocaine kingpin George Jung. **Blow**’s 36% Friday-to-Saturday increase was the best among the four new titles.
> **Pokemon 3**, the latest entry in the series of feature films based on the popular trading card game, opened in fourth with $8.2M. The Warner Bros. release averaged a shaky $3,080 from 2,675 theaters and continued the franchise’s trend of diminishing grosses. 1999’s first **Pokemon** debuted with $31M while last summer’s sequel opened with $19.6M.
> Ashley Judd’s **Someone Like You** plunged 47% in its second weekend to $5.4M. The Fox release has collected $17.8M in ten days and should finish its run with $25-30M. **Heartbreakers** starring Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt dropped 36% to $5M for the weekend boosting the cume for the MGM comedy to $30M in 17 days.
> Paramount’s sniper thriller **Enemy at the Gates** followed in seventh with $3.4M, off 38%, for a total of $39.2M to date. Falling a steep 46% was Sony’s **The Brothers** with $3M in its third weekend for a $22.5M sum.
> Suffering a 42% decline, the top ten’s eldest statesman, **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon**, placed ninth with $2.8M. In its 14th consecutive weekend in the top ten, the Oscar-winning epic shed 278 theaters but still managed to lift its cume to a dazzling $117.5M. Sony’s **Tomcats** tumbled 56% in its second weekend to $2.8M giving the R-rated sex comedy an unimpressive $11M in ten days.
> Debuting poorly outside of the top ten was Buena Vista’s **Just Visiting**, starring Jean Reno, Christina Applegate, and Tara Reid, with $2.3M. The comedy about a 12th Century Count and his servant transported to modern-day Chicago played in 1,590 venues and averaged a miserable $1,429 per theater.
> Three films fell out of the top ten over the weekend. Steven Seagal’s comeback vehicle **Exit Wounds** grossed $2.7M in its fourth weekend raising its total to $45.4M. The Warner Bros. action picture opened powerfully but has suffered declines of 45-50% each weekend. The $40M cop film should end up with around $50M domestically and thrive on home video.
> **Traffic**, Steven Soderbergh’s narcotics trade saga which won four Academy Awards, has taken in $116.8M to date and will conclude its run with $120-125M. The USA Films release is the highest-grossing picture in the company’s history. **The Mexican**, starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, has collected $64.1M thus far for DreamWorks. The $40M film looks to reach $65-70M making it the highest-grossing Brad Pitt picture in over five years, but the lowest-grossing Julia Roberts film in over four years.
> Compared to projections, **Along Came A Spider** and **Blow** opened just a little stronger than my respective forecasts of $15M and $11M. **Pokemon 3** was very close to my $10M prediction while **Just Visiting** debuted below my $6M projection.
> The top ten films grossed $76.8M which was up 11% from last year when **Rules of Engagement** opened at number one with $15M; and up 18% from 1999 when **The Matrix** remained in the top spot with $22.6M.
> Take this week’s NEW Reader Survey on the possible SAG and WGA strikes. In last week’s survey, readers were asked if it was right for different films to win the Oscars for Best Film and Best Director. Of 1,879 responses, 83% voted yes while 17% said no.
**’Hannibal’s’** strong Japan bow leads lackluster frame
**“Hannibal”** had a killer preem in Japan last weekend while **“Traffic”** registered effectively in Germany and **“Miss Congeniality”** continued its winning ways in a generally lackluster frame in Europe.
Meanwhile **“The Emperor’s New Groove,”** **“Save the Last Dance”** and **“Rugrats in Paris”** had promising debuts in several territories ahead of the spring school vacation.
Ridley Scott’s **“Hannibal”** devoured $4.7 million in two days on 311 screens in Japan (including $1.3 million in previews from the prior weekend), 28% better than **“The Green Mile”** and ahead of **“The Mummy,” “Cast Away”** and **“Gladiator.”** All told, the Anthony Hopkins starrer racked up $5.9 million from 18 countries, elevating its cume to $140.7 million, with playdates ahead in 11 territories including South Korea.
#**Still the one**
Still the pacesetter abroad, **“Miss Congeniality”** earned $8.9 million on 2,320 screens in 21 markets, propelling its cume to $40 million. The Sandra Bullock starrer minted a sturdy $970,000 on 212 in Spain (No. 2 behind the soph session of local phenom **“Torrente 2”**), but wasn’t as smart in France, taking $550,000 on 310.
Flashing great legs, the beauty pageant caper actually improved by 3% in Germany, collecting $6.2 million in 11 days, and eased by just 25% in its third weekend in the U.K., tallying nearly $9 million to date. However Italo auds have not warmed to the pic, ponying up just $716,000 in 10 days.
Steven Soderbergh’s **“Traffic”** notched $1.7 million on 268 in Germany and $229,000 on 35 in Austria, including sneaks; its cume topped $47 million, including Australia’s $5 million and Italy’s $4.3 million.
**“The Emperor’s New Groove”** captured $1.2 million on 403 in Mexico (26% up on **“Mulan”** and 55% better than **“Toy Story”**), $870,000 on 237 in Italy (on par with **“A Bug’s Life”**) and $525,000 on 274 in Australia (equaling **“Toy Story”** and 20% ahead of **“Tarzan”**). The Disney toon rang up $6 million overseas, elevating the cume to $44 million, including France’s terrif $5.7 million in 12 days (up 17%).
The French B.O. was dominated by three Gallic titles: freshmen **“Yamakasi”** (saga about thrill-seeking kids who leap from rooftop to rooftop, produced and co-written by Luc Besson) and **“Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre”** (suspenser starring Sophie Marceau), and the second lap of laffer **“La Tour Montparnasse infernale.”**
Romantic drama **“Save the Last Dance”** shimmied into Australia with a snazzy $809,000 on 151, dipped by 26% in the U.K., fetching $4 million in 10 days, and abated by 20% in Germany for $3.9 million in 18 days.
**“Rugrats in Paris”** coined a swell $2.2 million on 464 in the U.K. (including $723,000 in previews) and $398,000 on 196 in Oz. Kidpic was released in France in February, grossing a fair $3 million.
#**‘Wedding’ daze**
**“The Wedding Planner”** checked into the U.K. with a pleasing $1.3 million on 335 and dropped by 45% Down Under, scoring $1.2 million in 11 days.
**“The Exorcist”** re-issue posted Warner Bros.’ seventh-highest bow ever in Holland ($398,000 on 64) and its third best in Portugal ($199,000 on 39); estimated cume is $65 million.
Gus Van Sant’s **“Finding Forrester”** is struggling to find auds abroad as it did domestically, typified by indifferent weekend preems in Spain ($397,000 on 172), Taiwan, Sweden and New Zealand; cume is $12.7 million.
russwriter67 on
Spy Kids had some very solid legs. I’m assuming the Pokémon movie made most of its money in Japan.
5 Comments
[Box Office Guru’s report for the weekend:](http://www.boxofficeguru.com/040901.htm)
> **THIS WEEKEND** The family adventure film **Spy Kids** fended off competition from four new releases to top the North American box office for the second weekend in a row. The crime thriller **Along Came a Spider** and the drug drama **Blow** both opened impressively, the animated sequel **Pokemon 3** enjoyed a moderate bow, and the time-travel comedy **Just Visiting** was dead on arrival. Overall receipts once again outperformed sales from a year ago.
> Miramax’s latest franchise feature **Spy Kids** collected $17.1M in its sophomore frame to remain in the number one spot, according to final studio figures. The Robert Rodriguez-directed picture slipped a reasonable 36% and has captured $48.3M in only ten days. At its current pace, the $35M-budgeted film could reach the $100M mark domestically.
> Morgan Freeman enjoyed a strong second-place opening for his kidnapping thriller **Along Came A Spider** which grossed $16.7M over the Friday-to-Sunday period. Paramount launched the R-rated picture in 2,530 locations and averaged a strong $6,606 per theater. The opening for **Spider** surpassed the $13.2M bow of 1997’s **Kiss the Girls** which first introduced moviegoers to Freeman as detective Alex Cross. That film, which also starred Ashley Judd, went on to gross $60.5M. **Spider**, which co-stars Monica Potter, looks to go beyond that level.
> New Line’s edgy drama **Blow**, starring Johnny Depp, premiered in third place with $12.4M from 2,249 theaters. Averaging a solid $5,533, the Ted Demme-helmed film finds Depp playing out the rise and fall of cocaine kingpin George Jung. **Blow**’s 36% Friday-to-Saturday increase was the best among the four new titles.
> **Pokemon 3**, the latest entry in the series of feature films based on the popular trading card game, opened in fourth with $8.2M. The Warner Bros. release averaged a shaky $3,080 from 2,675 theaters and continued the franchise’s trend of diminishing grosses. 1999’s first **Pokemon** debuted with $31M while last summer’s sequel opened with $19.6M.
> Ashley Judd’s **Someone Like You** plunged 47% in its second weekend to $5.4M. The Fox release has collected $17.8M in ten days and should finish its run with $25-30M. **Heartbreakers** starring Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt dropped 36% to $5M for the weekend boosting the cume for the MGM comedy to $30M in 17 days.
> Paramount’s sniper thriller **Enemy at the Gates** followed in seventh with $3.4M, off 38%, for a total of $39.2M to date. Falling a steep 46% was Sony’s **The Brothers** with $3M in its third weekend for a $22.5M sum.
> Suffering a 42% decline, the top ten’s eldest statesman, **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon**, placed ninth with $2.8M. In its 14th consecutive weekend in the top ten, the Oscar-winning epic shed 278 theaters but still managed to lift its cume to a dazzling $117.5M. Sony’s **Tomcats** tumbled 56% in its second weekend to $2.8M giving the R-rated sex comedy an unimpressive $11M in ten days.
> Debuting poorly outside of the top ten was Buena Vista’s **Just Visiting**, starring Jean Reno, Christina Applegate, and Tara Reid, with $2.3M. The comedy about a 12th Century Count and his servant transported to modern-day Chicago played in 1,590 venues and averaged a miserable $1,429 per theater.
> Three films fell out of the top ten over the weekend. Steven Seagal’s comeback vehicle **Exit Wounds** grossed $2.7M in its fourth weekend raising its total to $45.4M. The Warner Bros. action picture opened powerfully but has suffered declines of 45-50% each weekend. The $40M cop film should end up with around $50M domestically and thrive on home video.
> **Traffic**, Steven Soderbergh’s narcotics trade saga which won four Academy Awards, has taken in $116.8M to date and will conclude its run with $120-125M. The USA Films release is the highest-grossing picture in the company’s history. **The Mexican**, starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, has collected $64.1M thus far for DreamWorks. The $40M film looks to reach $65-70M making it the highest-grossing Brad Pitt picture in over five years, but the lowest-grossing Julia Roberts film in over four years.
> Compared to projections, **Along Came A Spider** and **Blow** opened just a little stronger than my respective forecasts of $15M and $11M. **Pokemon 3** was very close to my $10M prediction while **Just Visiting** debuted below my $6M projection.
> The top ten films grossed $76.8M which was up 11% from last year when **Rules of Engagement** opened at number one with $15M; and up 18% from 1999 when **The Matrix** remained in the top spot with $22.6M.
> Take this week’s NEW Reader Survey on the possible SAG and WGA strikes. In last week’s survey, readers were asked if it was right for different films to win the Oscars for Best Film and Best Director. Of 1,879 responses, 83% voted yes while 17% said no.
[And here’s Variety’s overseas report.](https://variety.com/2001/film/box-office/o-seas-meal-ticket-1117796760/)
#**OVERSEAS: O’seas meal ticket**
**’Hannibal’s’** strong Japan bow leads lackluster frame
**“Hannibal”** had a killer preem in Japan last weekend while **“Traffic”** registered effectively in Germany and **“Miss Congeniality”** continued its winning ways in a generally lackluster frame in Europe.
Meanwhile **“The Emperor’s New Groove,”** **“Save the Last Dance”** and **“Rugrats in Paris”** had promising debuts in several territories ahead of the spring school vacation.
Ridley Scott’s **“Hannibal”** devoured $4.7 million in two days on 311 screens in Japan (including $1.3 million in previews from the prior weekend), 28% better than **“The Green Mile”** and ahead of **“The Mummy,” “Cast Away”** and **“Gladiator.”** All told, the Anthony Hopkins starrer racked up $5.9 million from 18 countries, elevating its cume to $140.7 million, with playdates ahead in 11 territories including South Korea.
#**Still the one**
Still the pacesetter abroad, **“Miss Congeniality”** earned $8.9 million on 2,320 screens in 21 markets, propelling its cume to $40 million. The Sandra Bullock starrer minted a sturdy $970,000 on 212 in Spain (No. 2 behind the soph session of local phenom **“Torrente 2”**), but wasn’t as smart in France, taking $550,000 on 310.
Flashing great legs, the beauty pageant caper actually improved by 3% in Germany, collecting $6.2 million in 11 days, and eased by just 25% in its third weekend in the U.K., tallying nearly $9 million to date. However Italo auds have not warmed to the pic, ponying up just $716,000 in 10 days.
Steven Soderbergh’s **“Traffic”** notched $1.7 million on 268 in Germany and $229,000 on 35 in Austria, including sneaks; its cume topped $47 million, including Australia’s $5 million and Italy’s $4.3 million.
**“The Emperor’s New Groove”** captured $1.2 million on 403 in Mexico (26% up on **“Mulan”** and 55% better than **“Toy Story”**), $870,000 on 237 in Italy (on par with **“A Bug’s Life”**) and $525,000 on 274 in Australia (equaling **“Toy Story”** and 20% ahead of **“Tarzan”**). The Disney toon rang up $6 million overseas, elevating the cume to $44 million, including France’s terrif $5.7 million in 12 days (up 17%).
The French B.O. was dominated by three Gallic titles: freshmen **“Yamakasi”** (saga about thrill-seeking kids who leap from rooftop to rooftop, produced and co-written by Luc Besson) and **“Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre”** (suspenser starring Sophie Marceau), and the second lap of laffer **“La Tour Montparnasse infernale.”**
Romantic drama **“Save the Last Dance”** shimmied into Australia with a snazzy $809,000 on 151, dipped by 26% in the U.K., fetching $4 million in 10 days, and abated by 20% in Germany for $3.9 million in 18 days.
**“Rugrats in Paris”** coined a swell $2.2 million on 464 in the U.K. (including $723,000 in previews) and $398,000 on 196 in Oz. Kidpic was released in France in February, grossing a fair $3 million.
#**‘Wedding’ daze**
**“The Wedding Planner”** checked into the U.K. with a pleasing $1.3 million on 335 and dropped by 45% Down Under, scoring $1.2 million in 11 days.
**“The Exorcist”** re-issue posted Warner Bros.’ seventh-highest bow ever in Holland ($398,000 on 64) and its third best in Portugal ($199,000 on 39); estimated cume is $65 million.
Gus Van Sant’s **“Finding Forrester”** is struggling to find auds abroad as it did domestically, typified by indifferent weekend preems in Spain ($397,000 on 172), Taiwan, Sweden and New Zealand; cume is $12.7 million.
Spy Kids had some very solid legs. I’m assuming the Pokémon movie made most of its money in Japan.
Why we looking at stuff from 5 years ago? Duh?
ooh these are fun statistics lol. keep posting