by David Poland

August 30 , 2002

As it turns out, FeatDotCom is the only major release of this weekend.  And the word “major” is used advisedly. 

Last year, two new releases over Labor Day Weekend grossed almost $23 million.  Even taking the four-day figures into account, except for the films that were heading into weekend two, the worst drop over the weekend was 37 percent… in other words, it’s a good weekend for aging films.

My Big Fat Best Friend’s Greek Wedding is adding yet another 290 screens after adding 265 screens and 27 percent at the box office last weekend.  It’s reasonable to expect the film to climb the charts once again, landing in third place this weekend.  And if my guess is right, the film will pass the $75 million mark this weekend. 

Goldmember will pass $200 million this weekend, Men in Black 2 will pass $190 million and Pluto Nash will close in on $4.5 million.

There are four new arthouse releases:  Screen Gems’ Love and a Bullet on 14 screens, Sony Classics’ Mad Love on 3 screens, Cinebella’s Agni Varsha on 3 screens and a re-issue of The Seven Samurai from Cowboy Booking on just one screen. 

Four Day Weekend Guesstimates

Signs – 3437 venues – up 4 percent – $14.9 million
XXX – 3536 venues – off 12 percent – $11.7 million
My Big Fat Greek Wedding - 1619 venues – up 45 percent - $10.5 million
Spy Kids 2 – 3250 venues – off 3 percent - $7.3 million
Fear Dot Com – 2550 venues – new - $6.2 million
Blue Crush – 2825 venues – off 10 percent - $5.9 million
Goldmember – 2506 venues – off 8 percent - $5.1 million
Serving Sara -  2174 venues – off 13 percent - $5 million
Undisputed - 1117 venues – off 20 percent - $3.6 million
Simone – 1920 venues – off 19 percent - $3.1 million
Road to Perdition - 1763 venues – up 5 percent - $2.9 million