Golden touch for 'Evita'
BV's "Evita," which took three awards, including best comedy or musical, closed out the four-day weekend with a sturdy $8.9 million on 923 balconies. That gave the No. 3-ranked film a towering $9,662 average for the Martin Luther King Day frame.
"The timing was so perfect," said Chuck Viann, BV senior VP and general sales manager. "Win an award one day and have the public available the next day. We ought to do this more often."
The Alan Parker-helmed musical saw a 62% increase over business the previous non-holiday Monday.
Viann figured the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. honors probably accounted for between 20% and 25% in additional ticket sales Monday.
Miramax's "The English Patient," which took awards for best drama and original score, also saw a healthy bump following the kudocast. Monday ticket sales were up a whopping 123% from the previous week. However, the increase wasn't enough to elevate the picture above No. 14 on the national chart.
The Golden Globes did not immediately pay off for Sony and Phoenix Pictures' "The People vs. Larry Flynt." The picture, which took honors for director Milos Forman and Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski's screenplay, saw only a 1% rise from the Monday before.
October Films' "Secrets & Lies," which has already been in release for more than 3-1/2 months, saw a 229% increase compared with last Monday. Brenda Blethlyn took best actress in a drama for her role in the Mike Leigh-helmed picture.
