People handed over $15.8 million to peep at “Jeepers Creepers.” (Why didn’t they just stay home?) The B-movie horror flick slithered onto 2,944 screens, the widest opening ever for the final weekend of summer. Typically, the box-office slips into its deepest doldrums this weekend; as evidence, the previous largest opening was 1996 ‘s “The Crow: City of Angels” with $9.8 million. September is notorious as being the slowest month at box office. But, for whatever reason, “Jeepers Creepers” slashed through the record, not quite doubling it. As a niche flick, its core audience saw it already so a precipitous drop should squash it next weekend.
Dead second for a month, “Rush Hour 2” proved to be a box-office behemoth. It earned $11.8 million ($199 total), placed over “American Pie 2” after three weeks, and continued its ascent to number two on the year. By next week, it will take position officially, surpassing “The Mummy Returns” at $201.5 million. The “Rush” won’t stop till you get enough.
Coming in third, “American Pie 2” did not have the stamina to rule over “Rush Hour 2.” Still, “Pie”‘s $11.7 million was nothing to be ashamed of because with $125.6 total, “Pie” kept its grosses up for a month. Typically, gross-out comedies fall off of the top ten by now, but “Pie” is still on the top three. It looks headed for $160 million cumulative, but with this endurance, “Pie” might beat it.
“The Others” kept an eerie lock on fourth. In its fourth weekend, it was in fourth place for the fourth time. It ushered in $10 million for $59.8 million total. While it will not earn nearly as much as “Rush Hour 2” or “American Pie 2,” “Others” performed more impressively. In order to stay in fourth, “Others” stumbled 25 percent or less each weekend. In this way, it acts like a movie before the mid-90s, the birth of the uber-opening. And while it earned Nicole Kidman exposure, rave reviews, and a higher salary, it earned all the money for her ex-husband and producer, Tom Cruise. Spooky. Who said divorced couples cannot make it work?
With another $9.2 million of calling cards, “Rat Race” increased its nest worth to $37.8 million. The movie, filled with B-list actors and comics, made its ancestor (1963 ‘s “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”) proud. “Race” high-tailed it into its third weekend and seems bound to make a pile.
“The Princess Diaries” got all dolled up to tax $7.6 million of its $92.9 million. Queen Elizabeth should be watching this closely ? America’s Anne Hathaway is doing a better job than she is.
Oh me, “O” my ? it shot up to $6.9 million. The modern-day (delayed for two years after Columbine) retelling of Shakespeare’s “Othello” did respectable business. It opened in less than half the theaters of “Jeepers Creepers” and made about half the money. Next week will tell if this is a modern “Hamlet” ($1.6 million) or “Romeo + Juliet” ($46.3 million).
“Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” slacked off into eighth place with $6.4 million and $21.9 million. “Jay and Silent Bob” fell 42 percent from last weekend because it got high … off of its $11 million opening … really.
At $5 million and No. 9, “Summer Catch” dropped the ball again. With only $14.5 million overall, it will be off the team next weekend.
Instead of a fatal shot to the gut, “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” took a nonfatal shot to the ? yeah, in week three. But it held on for the sake of number 10 with $4.1 million and $19.8 million total.
Next week, “The Three Musketeers” get a not-so-classic treatment in the “The Musketeer.” (Alexandre Dumas is probably spinning-among the rafters-in his grave.) Mark Wahlberg fulfills his life- and hair-long dream as a “Rock Star.” We get a little “soul food” while “waiting to exhale,” as women PROVE, definitively, that “Two Can Play That Game.” Finally, “Soul Survivors” sees how few sole survivors walk out before the credits.