..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
Weekend Finals
The Rock and Rollers
The ascendancy of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took another step forward as his antic thriller The Rundown led weekend moviegoing with an estimated $18.4 million. There was also mixed tidings for the debut of Under the Tuscan Sun with a $9.4 million gross and the scriptures found comfort in the commercial recesses with bows of Luther and The Gospel of John in a generally soft marketplace.
While not yet in the boffo leagues, the amiable thriller The Rundown demonstrated that The Rock is quickly developing a fan core comparable to the early returns for bygone action heroes that have included Chuck Norris, Van Damme and Steven Seagal. However, he's receiving better personal reviews than that trio and with Arnie possibly sidelined for several years and Sly segueing into character roles, he has a clear path to stardom with the selection of the right vehicles.
Under the Tuscan Sun, loosely based on the bestseller of the same name, opened in second spot. Though trailing significantly, the Buena Vista release was in 61% fewer theaters and had a 32% better screen average. Still, expansion plans are modest and it's hard to imagine that the film can be sustained in the upcoming weeks as a flood of new films enter the marketplace.
In the seesaw viewing trends that have marked 2003, business "see-ed" to close to $90 million overall for the weekend. That "saw-ed" off 12% of 2002 sales and was down by 14% for one week ago. Twelve months earlier, Sweet Home Alabama was top choice with a $35.6 million debut and it was followed by the $15 million bow of The Tuxedo.
The frame's other national release was the black comedy Duplex. However, despite a pedigree comic cast, audiences steered clear of the urban nightmare that grossed $4.5 million and landed seventh in viewing preferences.
The session also saw limited bows of two religious themed pictures. Luther, the latest screen bio of the 16th Century reformer, secured 400 plus screens and a less than reverential box office of $730,000. The Gospel of John targeted 14 screens in three markets that translated into roughly $110,000. Neither film could stir up any vestigial interest from the current controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's The Passion that's yet to secure domestic distribution.
Films in continuing runs displayed no appreciable deviations from seasonal trends. Last week's chart topper Underworld declined 60% while the other four second weekers experienced erosions ranging from 31% to 65%. On first blush there are no films in the mainstream or in the niches that are bucking the tide with resilient box office returns.
Among the other specialized and regional openers, Sony Classics' My Life Without Me had no better than fair response of $39,400 from seven venues and MAC Releasing's single screen L.A. bow of Prey for Rock 'n Roll was eyeing $7,800. In Canada, the Quebec bow of the French hit Chouchou came up shot with $26,000 from 21 screens and the family offering Kart Racer crawled to $77,500 in 85 theaters.
The industry is reeling from the MPAA blitzkrieg assault that rendered a Friday afternoon decision not to send DVD screeners to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press and sundry other critics' organizations.
As late as Thursday, the consensus was that it was too late in the awards process to set up the policy for this year. The argument was further heightened by the fact that Oscar season is a month shorter for the first time since video screeners became commonplace in campaigning about 15 years ago. So, the conclusion was that the Academy would send members a letter reminding them that receiving the tapes was a courtesy and privilege not to be squandered.
According to a senior studio exec, Friday's meeting on the subject was brief as reps from the majors arrived convinced of the efficacy of the move. He characterized the growth of piracy of DVDs as "cancerous" and the action as "symbolic." He did not see the decision as eliminating or significantly diminishing the problem and said that current evidence places direct from screen camcorder recording as the primary source of pirated tapes.
You can be assured that heated response to the decision will be immediate, intense and on-going.
Weekend Finals - September 26 - 28, 2003
Title The Rundown 18,533,765 3152 18,533,765 Under the Tuscan Sun 9,751,425 1226 9,751,425 Underworld 9,418,606 -57% 2928 37,025,501 Secondhand Lions 8,258,330 -32% 3038 23,464,037 The Fighting Temptations 6,388,472 -46% 2026 20,116,473 Once Upon a Time in Mexico 5,004,233 -55% 2922 48,967,404 Duplex 4,617,128 2189 4,617,128 Cold Creek Manor 4,405,084 -46% 2035 14,642,749 Matchstick Men 4,354,363 -42% 2666 30,703,127 Lost in Translation 3,688,538 40% 488 8,640,800 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star 3,006,088 -21% 1953 20,833,457 Pirates of the Caribbean 2,374,249 -32% 1443 295,713,028 Cabin Fever 2,082,307 -47% 1629 18,052,136 Freaky Friday 1,315,913 -48% 1422 106,808,336 Luther 908,446 400 908,446 Seabiscuit 880,380 -46% 876 117,396,680 Open Range 678,638 -52% 930 56,900,845 Anything Else 644,826 -61% 1033 2,781,677 S.W.A.T. 486,448 -61% 642 115,524,018 Mambo Italiano 461,024 -31% 192 3,887,063 Jeepers Creepers 2 447,312 -56% 577 34,290,297 Finding Nemo 360,887 -14% 405 335,734,009 Thirteen 308,325 -34% 210 3,698,035 American Splendor 287,771 -44% 179 5,102,643 American Wedding 273,920 -50% 332 103,807,005 Uptown Girls 250,206 -54% 374 36,643,252 Bad Boys II 248,627 22% 269 137,910,388 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over 217,276 -44% 377 110,392,540 Dirty Pretty Things 214,131 -28% 142 7,310,189 Whale Rider 209,590 -46% 237 20,055,214 The Italian Job 207,857 -33% 263 105,624,787 Scarface (reissue) 194,497 -20% 12 656,761 Freddy vs. Jason 192,976 -58% 299 81,610,601 The Magdalene Sisters 172,044 -39% 174 4,363,691 Bruce Almighty 167,280 -22% 204 242,202,690 Step Into Liquid 148,259 -23% 87 3,129,799 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 129,961 -57% 281 150,137,697 Daddy Day Care 122,717 -16% 165 103,940,298 The Matrix Reloaded 117,154 -13% 115 281,048,966 Winged Migration 105,275 -10% 88 9,158,953 The Gospel of John 98,363 14 98,363 The Order 90,548 -10% 74 7,536,577 La Grande Seduction 89,636 -21% 44 6,312,475 Pere et fils 85,637 -43% 49 313,736 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 84,350 -38% 155 66,225,839 Le Divorce 74,040 -65% 112 8,924,044 The Medallion 73,952 -71% 122 21,836,715 The Secret Lives of Dentists 72,593 -41% 86 3,402,674 Bend It Like Beckham 68,394 -24% 99 32,441,165 My Boss's Daughter 68,151 -73% 152 15,386,124 Gaz Bar Blues 64,377 -20% 18 452,888 Space Station 61,412 11% 22 43,734,159 The Book of Mormon Movie 59,543 -36% 37 404,957 Kart Racer 56,146 86 56,146 Ghosts of the Abyss 53,116 6% 17 14,665,106 Bubba Ho-Tep 47,011 32% 3 108,586 Swimming Pool 45,086 -46% 65 10,019,344 Demonlover 44,644 14% 12 104,659 28 Days Later 43,765 -28% 93 44,969,146 My Life Without Me 40,515 7 40,515 Party Monster 39,819 -21% 12 439,871 Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life 34,217 -50% 79 65,131,651 Casa de los Babys 31,838 -13% 8 84,148 T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous 28,219 7% 7 46,074,297 Spellbound 26,762 -11% 28 5,631,135 2 Fast 2 Furious 25,613 -51% 43 127,120,058 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas 25,606 -43% 63 26,466,284 To Be and To Have (Etre et avoir) 25,233 23% 3 239,181 Johnny English 24,899 -58% 39 28,013,509 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 24,756 -63% 66 100,814,328 Haunted Castle 24,231 36% 3 7,204,167 The Hulk 24,177 -58% 44 132,160,047 Legally Blonde 2 21,654 -60% 51 90,168,825 In This World 20,850 -15% 10 55,712 Yossi & Jagger 19,395 1 26,570 Masked and Anonymous 17,484 14% 17 444,118 Weekend Estimates - September 26 - 28, 2003
Title The Rundown - 3152 18.4 Under the Tuscan Sun - 1226 9.4 Underworld -60% 2928 36.5 Secondand Lions -31% 3038 23.5 The Fighting Temptations -44% 2026 20.3 Once Upon a Time in Mexico -54% 2922