by David Poland

October 22, 1999

Five new releases with over 1,300 screens. Six of the top eight from last weekend have over 2,000 screens. And there is no sure-bet box office hit anywhere to be found. That is, except for Double Jeopardy, which seems to be the antidote to The Sixth Sense, a movie that has no respect but that people just keep running to see. In fact, DJ is the only wide-release holdover with a significant increase in screens this weekend (up 66 venues in its fifth week).

But I digress ...

The big screen-eating opener this weekend is Bats. And who knows what people will bite on? (An unintended pun, but so grotesque, I'm keeping it in.) Also hoping to grab eyeballs, is Three To Tango, for which I just saw an ad with Matthew Perry mugging for the camera with a bunch of people necking around him after seeing the movie. ("What did you think of the movie?" Ha ha ha.) Pretty desperate. The quality of the weekend is Scorsese's Bringing Out The Dead, but this is not a box office dynamo. Sorry. And will anyone find themselves compelled to see Crazy In Alabama? A tough sell. The dark horse, so to speak, is The Best Man. Black audiences have proven that they will support movies like this, though on 1,345 screens, it is clear that Universal is hoping to cross over. And speaking in juxtaposition, the sex-n-booze flick, Body Shots, opens in 309 venues while the Christian-backed The Omega Code is on 306.

Also, MGM has spread out the wealth that is Molly to a full 12 screens. So, if everyone in the studio audiences of all the talk shows that Elisabeth Shue did this last 10 days tried to go see the movie, there wouldn't be enough seats. But that seems unlikely. People are clearly, it seems to me, interested in seeing Elisabeth Shue. But they are clearly not interested in seeing Molly. La Ciudad is now available for viewing on the coasts on just two screens. Beyond The Mat barrels into L.A., whether we like it or not.

And last but surely not least, The Straight Story expands from seven screens to 32. Go see it if you like calm, wonderful films.

WEEKEND GUESSTIMATES

1. Bats - 2540 venues - new - $11.8 million
2. Fight Club - 1966 venues - off 25 percent - $8.3 million
3. The Best Man - 1345 venues - new - $8 million
4. Double Jeopardy - 3002 venues - off 25 percent - $7.7 million
5. Bringing Out The Dead - 1936 venues - new - $7.3 million
6. Three To Tango - 2234 venues - new - $5.7 million
7. Three Kings - 2411venues - off 40 percent - $4.4 million
8. The Story of Us - 2165 venues - off 57 percent - $4.2 million
9. The Sixth Sense - 2191 venues - off 20 percent - $4.2 million
10. American Beauty - 1459 venues - off 40 percent - $4 million
11. Superstar - 2016 venues - off 40 percent - $3.4 million
12. Crazy In Alabama - 1214 venues - new - $2.82 million
13. Random Hearts - 2547 venues - off 50 percent - $2.8 million
14. Blue Streak - 1541 venues - off 35 percent - $2.5 million
15. Body Shots - 309 venues - new - $1.8 million
16. The Omega Code - 306 venues - off 25 percent - $1.8 million

E ME: You know the routine.