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The Cash in the Hat
Universal's
Seussical Cat in the Hat pulled out an estimated $39.4
million to handily take the weekend box office crown. The frame
also featured a record breaking debut for a Dark Castle movie
and a couple of excellent limited bows of films with both eyes
on awards season.
Expectations
were high for the screen adaptation of the beloved children's
book and at least critically speaking there were saucers full
of sour milk from the nation's critics, technical virtues aside.
However, that merely mirrored the response to the prior Seuss
movie Grinch. It was nonetheless a solid debut for The Cat
in the Hat, especially in light of the dynamic performance
of the similarly appealing Elf.
Also off to
a fast start was the eerie Gothika with Halle Berry
in second spot with roughly $19.5 million. The latest in the Dark
Castle franchise (and the first not adapted from a B horror title)
had the series highest grossing debut and, to the amazement of
Warner execs initial exit polls pegged its audience as dominantly
female and ethnic.
Despite strong
openers and relatively good holdovers, overall business appeared
to be roughly 12% off 2002's pace and should ring up about $137
million in ticket sales. A year ago the Bond Die Another Day
(also with Berry) shot out with $47 million and Friday After
Next ranked third with $13 million. Weekend reviews got a
small 3% hiccup from a week earlier.
Elf once again
held its own in the marketplace, slipping a slim 27% to rank third
just behind Gothika with $19.3 million. The other film
that's maintaining position is the comedy ensemble Love Actually
that added about 500 theaters and saw a 3% rise to $9 million
and a $31 million cume.
Conversely,
the family titles that are struggling and worse are Disney's animated
Brother Bear and the mixed format Looney Toons: Back
in Action. Bear took a 50% plus hit this weekend and is likely
to be rocked back when Haunted Mansion bows on Thanksgiving
Day for a final tally around $85 million. Toons took a comparable
weekend knock but never had the initial momentum of its cel mate
and the pricey package won't come close to grossing its P &
A budget.
The other
film in choppy commercial waters is Master and Commander: The
Far Side of the World. It's sophomore session had a 43% drop
from opening weekend and that's worrisome to Fox execs that hoped
for better sea legs following 4-star reviews and excellent word-of-mouth.
Though confidence reigns that the picture will figure prominently
when awards are doled out, it's headed into rough waters in the
next month as other contenders are launched in the marketplace.
The frame
also included a couple of toe dips for ballyhooed critical titles.
Focus's 21 Grams with Sean Penn weighed in with
a dynamic $280,000 from eight screens for an impressive per engagement
gross of $34,500. It will continue to expand cautiously in hopes
of translating critical honors into commercial appeal for the
grim tale of fate.
There was
also positive news for Miramax/Alliance's Cannes-prized The
Barbarian Invasions from Quebec in its first forays among
English-language viewers. The lively rumination on life and death
grossed about $75,000 from six U.S. and Canadian engagements following
exceptional returns from Quebec and France that have totaled more
than $12 million.
- by Leonard
Klady
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