'Scary' gets the gross
Wayans pic weighs in with $42.5 million
That's at least one conclusion to draw from a weekend in which Miramax's "Scary Movie" bowed to an estimated $42.5 million. If the figure holds true, the gleefully gross spoof of teen horror pics will have posted the second-biggest three-day launch of 2000, the best in Miramax history and tops by far for any R-rated pic.
In a summer that has seen blatant gross-outs like "Road Trip" and "Me, Myself & Irene" fail to truly capture the public's fancy, "Scary" rates as a milestone. Many eyebrows were raised when it managed an R rating despite multiple scenes depicting male members, usually a sure ticket to the NC-17 ghetto (Daily Variety, June 30).
"The movie is not succeeding on its crudeness," stressed Miramax co-topper Bob Weinstein. "It's succeeding on its laugh quotient. Our special effects are comedy."
'Storm' reaches $100 mil
Warner Bros. is also laughing -- all the way to the bank, thanks to "The Perfect Storm." The actioner that owned Fourth of July weekend remained a force in its sophomore frame. It took in $27 million, down 35% from the previous three-day period.
Tally made it a distant second, but the Wolfgang Petersen-helmed tempest has already reached $100 million. In WB history, only "Batman" and "Batman Forever" have reached that B.O. level in just 10 days.
"These storm sequences are the first on film," said Warners distrib chief Dan Fellman, explaining the pic's popularity. "The movie just does a terrific job of putting audiences in the middle of a storm."
"Scary" back-burnered the battle between "Storm" and Sony's "The Patriot," an unprecedented head-to-head tilt that unfolded over the extended July Fourth span. Mel Gibson-starring "Patriot" showed second-week muscle, recording only a 31% drop with $15.5 million.
Still, cume of $65.5 million is more modest than pre-release tracking and most B.O. observers had predicted.
"The race with 'The Perfect Storm' is over and they won," conceded Jeff Blake, distrib chief at Sony. "But we're still going to be a winner, too, because I think this picture is going to get to a very good number."
The most reassuring number for nerve-wracked showbizzers was overall weekend take of $144 million, as estimated by ACNielsen EDI. Dramatic 24% spike over the $116 million a year ago should help sluggish summer receipts draw closer to last year's record pace.
"Whether or not we're on track to beat last summer, we're back in the ballgame," noted ACNielsen EDI VP Dan Marks.
Kid pix mixed
The top 10 chart told many compelling stories.
Bruce Willis starrer "Disney's The Kid" debuted with $12.5 million, DreamWorks' "Chicken Run" fell only 28% and Universal's "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" mustered just $4 million.
But "Scary Movie" was clearly the B.O. end-all.
Released under Miramax's Dimension Films genre banner, pic parodies a host of pop culture mainstays -- including Dimension's meal ticket, the "Scream" franchise. Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, it stars his brothers Marlon and Shawn Wayans, plus "Saturday Night Live" vet Cheri Oteri.
In the months leading up to its release, pic showed signs of weakness -- at least to those outside Miramax: the title and release date changed; six writers wound up with screenplay credit; and the biggest name in the cast is ex-"Baywatch" babe Carmen Electra, known to many as the former Mrs. Dennis Rodman. (Accordingly, negative cost was a mere $19 million.)
Plus, leaving aside the racy content, an R rating could have been a major commercial handicap. Top opening for an R was $37.1 million by "Air Force One" in 1997 -- and that was a big-budget Harrison Ford action pic.
But when Miramax execs got stellar feedback from test auds, they opted for a summer push, moving the release from April to July. They wisely steered clear of U's upcoming Eddie Murphy sequel "Nutty Professor 2," whose tracking has long been intimidating.
"For some people, it's coming out of left field," Weinstein said. "But we've always had tremendous confidence in it."
As far as the lack of star power, he added: "The star is the concept and execution."
Minimajor wouldn't share complete exit poll results, revealing only that many mature auds are seeing "Scary." More than 30% of opening-weekend auds were older than 25, a stat that may be the result of reviews comparing the comedy with spoof chestnut "Airplane."
Other grown-ups toting tots or simply looking for a less raunchy option chose "Disney's The Kid." Mouse House re-christened helmer Jon Turteltaub's pic to dodge confusion with the Chaplin classic.
Disney distrib chief Chuck Viane said the goal is to surpass the $66.3 million purse of 1998's "Parent Trap" remake.
"We're on track for that," he said. "We've got the playability. We just wanted to get it in there and hang around for the rest of the summer."
Still on the 'Run'
One all-ages pic that is hanging around is "Chicken Run," the stop-motioner from Aardman Animations. Cume is up to $63.3 million entering Week 3 and three-toed legs could give it a shot at $100 million, ultra-rare for a non-Disney toon.
With just days to go before the bow of "X-Men," Fox is celebrating its first $100 million grosser since last year's "Star Wars" installment. "Big Momma's House" collected $4.1 million to reach an estimated $104 million. With a drop of 33%, it continued to trounce Fox's other summer comedy, "Irene." Jim Carrey-Farrelly brothers effort has reached $68 million, but its 38% hit was second only to the reeling "Rocky."
Limited-release circuit showed signs of life, with USA Films, Lions Gate and Sony Classics posting decent opening numbers.
USA's director's cut of Joel and Ethan Cohen's debut feature "Blood Simple" brought in $37,128 from three locations, averaging $12,376.
Send-up "But I'm a Cheerleader" put an estimated $60,000 into Lions Gate's coffers. Average of $15,000 led the indie pack.
Paramount Classics' "Sunshine" and Shooting Gallery's "Croupier" extended their successful runs. "Sunshine" added $368,000, or $3,755 in each of 98 venues. Cume is $1.7 million.
Surprising "Croupier" brought its total to $2.5 million with a $290,000 frame. Drama is up to 117 engagements.
