Monday, 20 October 1997

WEEKEND REVIEW

Not many surprises at the weekend box office. At least not for me. Despite the big names (Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves) and big publicity push, The Devil's Advocate came in just an OK second, conjuring up $12.2 million. The good news is, it may be another Pacino scenery-chewing camp classic. The easy winner of the weekend was teen horror romp I Know What You Did Last Summer with a ripping $16.1 million. Despite a last-minute agreement by Sony not to abuse the "from the makers of Scream" tag, their marketing department grabbed teen attention with big ad buys and clever gimmick promos, like a two-minute "special preview" hosted by Sarah Michelle Gellar during last week's episode of her WB series, "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer." The only other wide release, Playing God, caught me once again overestimating the drawing power of non-movie star celebrities. Last week, it was Tupac. This week it's Mr. Duchovny's Doofus, which I predicted would reach fifth, but came in tenth with a weak $2 million.

The strength of the new product damaged the returning hits a little more than expected. Kiss The Girls ($7 million) and Seven Years in Tibet ($6.5 million) both dropped a little over 35 percent from last weekend. In & Out passed the $50 million mark in its fifth week, pulling in $3.9 million to become one of only two returnees in the Top 10 to drop less than 30 percent. Soul Food is now leftovers, dropping over 35 percent to $3.5 million for sixth place. Rocketman went according to plan, dropping to earth with $3 million on its way out of the Top 10. The Peacemaker is suffering nuclear fallout, dropping a substantial 44 percent to take eighth with $2.8 million. And in ninth, L.A. Confidential quietly dropped 27 percent, adding another $2.7 million to its haul.

In other box office news, the magnificent Boogie Nights, now in a 30-screen limited release in 13 cities, pulled in a throbbing $27,016 per screen over the weekend, compared to averages around $6000 a screen for this weekend's top two hits. Boogie Nights won't be in a theater near you, unless you are very lucky, until October 31. Hopefully, this won't lead to flaccid box office the way it did for the also-excellent L.A. Confidential.

So, have you listened to my ringing endorsements? Have you seen L.A. Confidential yet? Email me and let me know what you think.