by David Poland

February 18 , 2000

BOX OFFICE EXTRA

It should be an interesting weekend at the box office, with a holiday on Monday and four, count `em, four wide openings this weekend. Especially with three new films and one holdover film last weekend grossing more than $9 million. Add to that a massive return to theaters by American Beauty and a minor one by The Insider and things could get pretty interesting. Or not.

Studio tracking and common sense tell us that Hanging Up and The Whole Nine Yards, both with major stars and venue counts that Pitch Black and Boiler Room can't match, will be the big weekend winners. But Hanging Up seems to have inspired critics to attack with fangs bared. Plus, Meg Ryan hasn't opened a film without a major male co-star in...well, ever. And yet the tracking says that it'll be $5 million days.

Amazingly, Bruce Willis hasn't done a lead in a comedy since 1992's Death Becomes Her, which wasn't really a straight comedy, more comedy/horror/effects. Even more amazing is that when you look at Willis' career, he hasn't been the lead in ANY comedies since Blind Date, his first film, unless you include Bonfire of the Vanities. Talk about leaving your TV series behind. So, how will a Bruce Willis comedy play? Again, the tracking has it somewhere north of $20 million for 4 days. But has the confusing sales job on The Whole Nine Yards done enough to get people out of their houses?

Pitch Black and Boiler Room both fill voids in the market. Scream 3 is more a sequel than a horror entry, so Pitch Black fills the need. And Boiler Room...well, I'm not sure who the market for that is, but it seems unlikely to be the crowd that would go to The Beach, Next Friday or any of the Oscar-type movies.

THE RETURN OF THE OSCAR MOVIES
American Beauty - From 7 venues to 1287
The Cider House Rules - from 802 venues to 857
The Green Mile - from 2102 venues to 2102
The Insider - 36 venues to 132
The Sixth Sense - 831 venues to 894

WEEKEND 4-DAY GUESSTIMATES
1. The Whole Nine Yards - 2910 venues - new - $21 million
2. Hanging Up - 2618 venues - new - $16 million
3. The Beach - 2581 venues - n/a - $13 million
4. Snow Day - 2702 venues - n/a - $11.5 million
5. Scream 3 - 3368 venues - n/a - $9 million
6. The Tigger Movie - 2753 venues - n/a - $8.1 million
7. Pitch Black - 1932 venues - new - $8 million
8. The Hurricane - 1720 venues - n/a - $5 million
9. The Green Mile - 2102 venues - n/a - $4.5 million
10. American Beauty - 1287 venues - n/a - $4 million

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