MCN Blogs
David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Weekend Wrap-Up

I’m not sure where you can get a RealAudio version of “Taps” on the Internet, but if you know where to find it, play it now. Titanic is dead. Long live Titanic. On the other hand, Jonathan Harris is alive, but nowhere to be found in the new version of Lost In Space. That didn’t stop the film from grabbing the top slot this weekend with more than ($500,000 more than) $20 million. (In space, nobody can hear you tell a story, but most of the effects are cool.) Titanic took its deepest drop yet, losing 24 percent to fall to $11.6 million. No one, not even a single box office contestant, expected this kind of drop. It’s a moderate, if not encouraging drop for any other movie in its second week, much less its 16th week, but Titanic still showed spunk, fighting off Mercury Rising for second after falling behind the Bruce and Baldwin offering by $340,000 on Friday. Mercury wouldn’t be Rising any higher than third with $10.8 million. But back to dropping classics, Grease fell off by about 57 percent this weekend. I think that means that “old” or “over” is the word. Primary Colors was not relieved by the dismissal of Paula Jones‘ lawsuit, dropping 33 percent to $4.7 million. The only other newcomer of note was Barney’s Great Adventure, which took 12th place, registering $2.2 million on 540 screens, which would make Barney’s $4,074 per screen higher than any of the Top 10 except Lost In Space and Mercury Rising (including Titanic) despite almost no evening playdates. (I’d like the police to check out anyone at a 10 p.m. showing of Barney). For those of you who got sucked into the My Giant trap I set on Friday, sorry. Oddly, no one wrote in that they were upset they wouldn’t be able to see the film until next Friday.
THE GOOD: Limited engagements of Neil Jordan’s The Butcher Boy will soon expand so that everyone can check this film out. Well, not everyone. The film is about a boy, but it is definitely not for kids. As you sit there laughing, every once in a while the urge to start crying hits you because what’s happening on-screen is actually very sad, but the characters just keep going, just like real life. Just like real art. Neil Jordan belongs in the Pantheon of great directors.
THE BAD: There’s a new ad for Good Will Hunting with Matt, Ben and Robin holding up their Academy Awards. All they need is a little cartoon bubble saying, “We’re the kings of the world!” Ever hear of backlash, Mr. Weinstein?
THE UGLY: Just caught the first ad for 3 Ninjas: High Noon At Mega Mountain. The above-the-title talent is Hulk Hogan, Loni Anderson and Jim Varney. And Hulk Hogan is the one with his chest featured in the ad. Am I really seeing this? Is this just a bad dream? I’ve got to stop listening to Celine Dion before I go to sleep.
THE CONTEST: No one got in trouble for putting My Giant in their Top Five, but a bunch of you managed to get past the hurdle of picking the Top Five correctly. Four of you were within $1 million of the total for those five films. Jeff Ketcham was only $100,000 away. Like everyone else, he overestimated Titanic (by $2.4 million), but he made up for that by underestimating Lost In Space (by $2.5 million). He was within a million on the other three films. The other prize winners are Alex (just off by $200,000), Usman Javaid (off by $900,000) and Eric M. Jones (off by $1 million even). I need addresses, guys! (P.S. You would be welcome to the 54 T-shirt instead of Lost In Space stuff, Marc, but you have to win first!) We’re working on next week’s prize. I’ll let you know what it is later this week.
TWO BAD MOVIES EQUAL: Dangerous Beauty + Grease = A Series of Dirty Jokes So Obvious I Don’t Even Have To Write Them, Do I?
JUST WONDERING: Is the guy from Milli Vanilli really dead or is he just pretending to be dead for someone else?
BAD AD WATCH: As much as I appreciate New Line’s generosity in sponsoring this week’s box office contest, any movie that offers pull quotes from Ron Brewington, Bonnie Churchill and someone named Bill Zwecker from NBC-TV, Chicago (you know, the town were Siskel & Ebert keep their thumbs to themselves for Lost In Space) is asking to take this slot. Welcome, Lost In Space.
READER OF THE DAY: From Krillian: “There were only three things I hated about the movie: 1. Matt LeBlanc is a bad actor. Don West was Joey in space. 2. That fake-looking monkey-Noid CGI cutesy toy-waiting-to-happen Blawp. 3. The ending had no regard for any law ever given in science or physics. Other than that, I was entertained, enthralled, excited and found many new reasons to worship Gary Oldman. And it had a kick-butt Godzilla preview.”
From Donner: “Ugh….Was bored most of the time, the writing was weak, the acting even weaker. I could go on and on, but it would just be repetitious, so I’ll spare you. All I can say is, I’m glad I saw it at a matinee price…”.
And LynnKC on Mercury Rising: “I just wish Bruce Willis would not try to act. His attempt at sentimentality was completely false. And Alec Baldwin should calm down. All he does is yell. The kid was pretty good. The movie lacked intensity since the whole movie was shown in the preview.”

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Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4