For the second weekend in a row, freshman films opened below pre-release expectations. Johnny Depp and Heather Graham surfaced “From Hell” to take the lead. The Jack the Ripper tale seemed to have a lot going for it. The campaign mimicked 1999’s “Sleepy Hollow” in every way, even casting Depp in virtually the same role as Constable Crane/Inspector Abberline. Typecasting Graham as a whore was not a bad idea, but when push came to slash, the Hughes Brothers film did not have much strength. Predicted to take $16 to $20 million, “Hell” grossed $11 million in 2,305 screens for a $4,779 average. Even though “Hell” was the first Johnny Depp movie to open atop the box office, “Sleepy Hollow” opened to a much stronger second place with $30.1 million. Jack’s reign of terror will not last long, and next weekend “Hell” will drop a few circles.
Parked at No. 2, Drew Barrymore experienced her usual, non-“Angel”ic opening. “Riding in Cars With Boys” made a decent $10.4 million in its debut. Barrymore’s solo vehicles never open big, but unlike many stars of today, her staying power makes her movies stick. “Ever After” and “Never Been Kissed” both opened unimpressively, but went on to gross four to five times what they did on their opening weekends. However, “Home Fries” opened small and died quickly. By playing wide on 2,770 screens but averaging a mere $3,756 per screen, “Riding” is probably heading “home” without its “kiss.”
King Kong ain’t got nothing on Denzel. In its third weekend, “Training Day” locked down third place. Dropping 30 percent, “Training Day” picked up $9.3 million. Denzel Washington’s drama has $57.3 million total, but “Training Day” trails his biggest hit, “Remember the Titans,” which grossed $64.2 million by its third week. Still, the “Day” has just begun.
Now that the big Anthrax scare has passed, “Bandits” proved its prospects to its studio. Indeed, no one cares. Dropping 36 percent to $8.3 million, “Bandits” has swiped $24.9 million total. Not a bad performance, but the Bruce Willis-Billy Bob Thorton movie needed a stellar second week. Carrying production costs upwards of $80 million, “Bandits” has little chance but to finish in the red.
At No. 5, “The Last Castle” fortified director Rod Lurie’s doghouse. The critically-lauded director cannot score a decent box office even with stars like Robert Redford and James Gandolfini. “Castle” seized $7.1 million from 2,262 locations. Averaging a scant $3,134 per screen, “The Last Castle” might crumble soon.
“Serendipity” dropped 38 percent to No. 6. With $5.5 million and $34.4 million cumulative, “Serendipity” is a minor hit.
At No. 7, “Corky Romano” tumbled 38 percent to $5.3 million. “Corky” has $16.2 million overall and should end up in the $30 million range like most other Saturday Night Live movies.
“Don’t Say a Word” resumed its silent fall to No. 8. “Word” dropped another 37 percent, but even with $47.9 million, it has not performed to Michael Douglas’ standards.
Like most martial-arts niche flicks, “Iron Monkey” lost nearly half, 47 percent, of its audience in its second week. Given how cheap U.S. studios pick up Hong Kong imports, “Monkey” will make money for Miramax despite its lowly $10.7 million cumulative gross.
In the ten spot, “Zoolander” strutted his last runway. Ben Stiller lost another 38 percent of his audience and grossed $3.1 million.
Next weekend, films try to capitalize on the traditionally slow Halloween weekend. The studios keep trying for sentiment’s sake, but the weekend is always slow. That said, “Thirteen Ghosts” follows one of the few successes in the frame, 1999’s “The House on Haunted Hill.” Both are remakes of classic William Castle horror flicks and hopes are high for “Ghosts.” For the faint of heart, Kevin Spacey embodies an extraterrestrial from “K-PAX.” Wednesday, Snoop Dogg headlines “Bones” as the lead pimp/vampire Jimmy Bones. And finally, teenie-boppers get “On the Line” from ‘N*Sync’s Lance Bass and Joey Fatone. For those of us who are not fans, Bass is the group’s bass singer, and Fatone is … the fat one.