'Storm' plugs Mel's musket
Sea saga's $64 mil bow swamps 'Patriot'
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Yes, the Fourth of July B.O. offered a familiar tune. But George Clooney & Co. rewrote the lyrics, if not the record book, as "The Perfect Storm" deluged "The Patriot" over the five-day span.
Estimated margin of victory -- $64 million to $35.2 million -- stunned even the most jaded industry vets, given that the latest tracking had "Patriot" nipping "Storm" in a tight race. Five-day sum of $100 million between the two pics met expectations, but no one had battened down the hatches for such a socko "Storm" bow.
"It's what the people wanted to see," said Warners distrib chief Dan Fellman. "They wanted to be entertained."
Sony's Jeff Blake downplayed the rivalry and said the gross gap resulted from simple demographics.
'Patriot' skews older
"We ended up a little more adult than we expected," he said. "That hurts you at the opening, but it pays off with longevity."
Frame's other wide debut, Universal's "Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle," flew into a tree with an $11 million five-day take. At a negative cost of roughly $70 million, part-animated kiddie pic looks to have all the legs of a Dachshund.
It certainly paled next to DreamWorks' sprightly "Chicken Run." Aardman Animations toon finished third thanks to its 25% drop. "Rocky's" glass jaw leaves "Nutty Professor 2" as U's lone summer hope.
Surge of interest in "Storm" and "Patriot" helped the overall B.O. halt a three-week tailspin. ACNielsen EDI put the five-day business at about $200 million.
Comparisons with 1999 are tough, as the Fourth last year fell on Sunday, with a Monday observance. That four-day frame totaled $166 million.
Fourth biggest weekend
But for the seven-day span from Wednesday through Tuesday, the tally is seen at $235-240 million, which would rank it as the fourth-biggest week in history.
Yet with "Rocky" on the rocks and Fox's "Me, Myself & Irene" and Paramount's "Shaft" suffering steep dropoffs, overall summer gate will probably still be down by a percentage point or two. It entered the holiday off 6% from last year's record level.
"These pictures enabled the summer to hold its own, but it should be an uphill battle from here," said ACNielsen EDI prexy Tom Borys, noting the lack of imposing titles on the July and August slate. Independence Day is typically the peak of summer, which generates close to 50% of major studios' annual film revenue.
Unprecedented competish between "Storm" and "Patriot," two $100-million-plus tentpoles of huge importance to their respective studios, all but ended Friday afternoon. Matinee receipts already showed a 2-to-1 edge for "Storm."
Numbers tell tale
Three-day figures told the story, with "Storm" posting 41.5 million -- the third-highest three-best launch of any Fourth of July pic -- and "Patriot" mustering just 22.4 million.
Warners declined to share exit poll information, but the youth market undoubtedly propelled "Storm." PG-13 rating, not to mention far shorter running time and more contempo setting, gave it a leg up on R-rated Patriot."
"I had a feeling we were going to take the weekend," Fellman said. "But without an edge going in, it's just a fantastic thing to be where we are now."
For the studio, which craved a summer hit after the "Battlefield Earth" fiasco, it was WB's best three-day bow in July and its top grosser on the July 4 date. Tuesday estimate of $12 million far exceeded "Wild Wild West's" $7.2 million holiday figure.
Even without the exact Warners exit polls, a glance at those from "The Patriot" helps explain how "Storm" took hold.
Seeking sweet spot
Two-thirds of "Patriot" auds were over 25 years old, with 52% female. Young skew of "Chicken Run" and "Rocky" left most of the marketplace "sweet spot," i.e. teens and twentysomethings, for Warner Bros.
Sony steadfastly touted strong feedback on "The Patriot." Roughly 88% surveyed in exit polls rated the pic "very good" or "excellent," with 75% saying they'd recommend it to a friend and 53% indicating they'd pay to see it again.
At $44.5 million through seven days, "Patriot" could potentially have its best days in front of it, especially with younger pics such as "Scary Movie" and "Disney's The Kid" lined up. At least that's Sony's optimistic view.
Hope springs eternal
"A lot of movies have ended up doing well after opening like this," Blake said. He cited "Saving Private Ryan," "The Matrix" and "Apollo 13," the last of which also opened around July 4 when the Fourth fell on a Tuesday. After pocketing just $25.4 million in its debut frame, it cruised on to a final cume of $172 million.
"Patriot" producer Dean Devlin also pointed to the pic's smaller-than-expected 2% dip from Saturday to Sunday. Any film with potency among adults, he said, must be judged over time. "The Patriot" in that sense made for unorthodox fare for the Fourth, which is associated with opening-number fireworks.
"We wouldn't have released it now if it weren't for the subject matter," Devlin said. "Doing it any other time would have been like releasing a film about Santa Claus in February."
But considering the checkered commercial past of Revolutionary War pics, "we've already broken the curse," Devlin cracked.
Carrey's curse
Speaking of curses, how about the one looming over Jim Carrey's darker characters? "Me, Myself & Irene," once thought to be one of summer's sure things, is now a sure thing not to reach $100 million.
Farrelly Bros. comedy swooned 47%, finishing fourth with $19.5 million over five days. To paraphrase the Farrellys' last effort, there's something about Carrey: When he portrays wicked characters, many auds stay away.
"Sure, it's disappointing," said Tom Sherak, chairman of Fox's domestic film group. "In the middle of the country, the broader, R-rated material just didn't seem to play like it did elsewhere."
Sherak maintained "Irene," which looks to finish in the $85 million range, will still make a profit. It's more than a little surprising, though, that Martin Lawrence laffer "Big Momma's House" will be Fox's summer comedy highlight. Co-venture with New Regency has hit $97.9 million after a month of release. Drop of 33% was second only to "Chicken Run" among wide players.
Those auds not drawn to Clooney in a slicker or Gibson in a tri-corner hat helped two art pics pull off modest expansions.
Fiennes shines
Paramount Classics' "Sunshine" collected $505,000 from 76 screens, for an average of $6,645. Cume of Ralph Fiennes starrer is $1.2 million.
Shooting Gallery's "Croupier" continued its stealth mission. Drama from "Get Carter" helmer Mike Hodges added another $470,000, or $4,052 from each of 116 locations. Cume of $2.1 million makes small-scale pic the indie surprise of 2000.
While "Gone in 60 Seconds," "Dinosaur" and "Fantasia 2000" continued to slide, Mouse House is gearing up for Friday's launch of Bruce Willis topliner "Disney's The Kid."
Studio ran 800 sneaks that were reported to be 70% full. Exit polls showed 90% of auds rating the feel-gooder "very good" or "excellent." Age-wise, 69% were families, 22% were couples and 9% teens. Largest age demo was sub-25s, at 48%.
