'Dave' wins in nat'l B.O. race
Last weekend's champ, Universal's biopic "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story," took an anticipated 40% chop to second place, down to a still-energetic $ 6.1 million on 1,938 screens according to studio estimates.
U's new distribution outlet, Gramercy Pictures (a co-venture with Polygram Pictures), left the gate at a gallop in its first race via the African-American Western "Posse," which grossed a third-place $ 5.2 million on 949 screens.
Hobbled by weak reviews, the weekend's other major newcomer, Columbia's "Lost in Yonkers," was up the Hudson without a paddle, managing fifth place with a wan $ 3 million on 1,161 screens, behind Paramount's "Indecent Proposal," which held onto its screens and its business, dropping only slightly to just under $ 4 million in 1,922 theaters. "Proposal's" a likely $ 100 million contender with about $ 84 million to date.
Goldwyn's "Much Ado About Nothing" appears to be a misnomer if second-weekend expansion to 14 screens is any indication. The Kenneth Branagh adaptation of the Bard comedy did a bawdy $ 330,000 as it spread from New York to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Minneapolis, for about $ 25,000 per theater. Moreover, Gotham business was up 5% from its first weekend, say the Goldwyn folks.
'Heart' weak
Miramax broadened "Map of the Human Heart" to 523 theaters, but can't take much heart in a weekend total of under $ 800,000, despite the rising star of lead Jason Scott Lee, who also toplines "Dragon."
Warners' grassroots campaigning and two weekends of sneaks on "Dave" seem to have paid off in the kind of favorable word-of-mouth the studio was hoping for.
"Dave's" approximately $ 5,300-per-screen average with 1,566 prints at work is not far behind first-weekend results in 1,155 theaters. The 10-day total of $ 18.2 million is a solid base with which to withstand the Memorial Day barrage of new titles.
The $ 15 million "Dragon" looks to be a moderately strong performer over the long haul, cushioned by a $ 19 million cume in its first 10 days. Good Saturday numbers indicate the film is getting more than just the martial arts audience.
There was surprisingly little overlap between the "Dragon" and Gramercy's "Posse." Gramercy's chief Russell Schwartz beamed, "We're very happy" with the debut of the company's first film.
He was not surprised at the 75% African-American audience, from a wide age range of 15 to 49. He is encouraged by the Caucasian response to the film, which was consistent with its overall exit polls of about 90% recommend and better than that response to the film itself.
The battle is only half won, as the $ 9 million "Posse" must combat a number of higher-profile titles in the coming weeks. But, Schwartz promised, "We have some more marketing tricks up our sleeve," including a new TV spot to usher in the second weekend.
Triumph's sixth-place "Sidekicks" held well with about $ 2 million on 1,270 screens and $ 10.6 million to date.
The rest of the top 10 were, in descending order, MGM's "Benny and Joon," with $ 1.6 million on 1,314 screens, taking it over $ 17 million; Buena Vista's "'Indian Summer," with $ 1.3 million on 1,290 screens and almost $ 12 million so far; Fox's "The Sandlot," with just under $ 1.3 million in 1,422 theaters and a cume of $ 24.5 million; and U's "Cop and a Half" with about $ 900,000 in 1,235 houses and a $ 25.4 million total.
