by David Poland

July 28 , 2000

Phat!
That should describe the box office weekend of The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps. The tracking seems to have the film in the mid 40s, but who can count on tracking these days? On the other hand, the number seems pretty reasonable. Then again, there's nothing near the Top Ten that can compete with a PG-13 rated comedy sequel that should have decent word-of-mouth. If you are a parent and you are going to take the kids to the movies and your kid is over 7, The Klumps seems like a likely choice this weekend. What Lies Beneath is really for adults. X-Men is for boys. Pokémon 2000 and Thomas & The Magic Railroad are for the under-6 crowd. Scary Movie has got too much stuff in it for families and Loser has too little for anyone. So, what's left? The Perfect Storm, The Patriot, The Kid and Chicken Run? Oy! And you know what? Despite Hollow Man, I expect next weekend will be clear sailing for The Klumps as well. In fact, look for The Klumps to lead the way all the way to The Cell.

WEEKEND GUESSTIMATES:
1. The Klumps - 3242 venues - new - $
2. What Lies Beneath - off 35 percent - $19.3 million
3. X-Men - off 40 percent - $14.1 million
4. Pokémon 2000 - off 57 percent - $8.4 million
5. Scary Movie - off 45 percent - $8.3 million
6. The Perfect Storm - off 40 percent - $5.8 million
7. Disney's The Kid - off 35 percent - $4.3 million
8. Thomas & The Magic Railroad - 2106 venues - new - $3.8 million
9. The Patriot - off 45 percent - $3.4 million
10. Loser - off 50 percent - $3 million
11. Chicken Run - off 35 percent - $2.99 million

ROTD EXTRA: The Clean M writes: "Just a small tidbit.....I work at a movie theater, and the Gone in 60 Seconds trailer did not premiere with The Green Mile in December.....it was with Fight Club in October !! I distinctly remember the sneers from the crowd when it was advertised as being released June 9....I would say the early release date of this trailer did kill my will to see this movie...It was a good trailer, but seeing it 10 times in an 8 month span made me so sick of it..."

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