Monday, 20 July 1998

WEEKEND WRAP-UP

The results of this weekend's box office race offers one Hollywood truism and one big question mark. The truism is that R-rated films will do less business than PG-13 films. There's Something About Mary would appear to have had more positive buzz than any film except The Truman Show this summer, but it only managed a soft $13 million for fourth place in its debut weekend. Everybody likes to claim under-17s have no trouble getting into R-rated films, but history tells us otherwise. And now Mary is telling us again. Then there is The Mask of Zorro, which seems to have the right stuff to make audiences remember why they loved movies before CG, but opened with only $22.7 million. First place, but not encouraging. Which brings us to the question mark -- can summer films win with long legs anymore? Keep in mind that last summer there was not a single film that did $10 million or better in its fifth week. Not The Lost World, not Men in Black and not Air Force One. In fact, Hercules had the best week five with $8.34 million. If Zorro doesn't drop a bit for the first four weeks and falls to $10 million in week five, it would still be hard pressed to hit the $150 million mark. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed, hoping that a Titanic-like break in "the rules" will occur, but it doesn't hearten me that Out of Sight dropped out of the Top 10 in just week four.

In the second spot, Lethal Weapon 4 dropped only 38 percent to $21.2 million, which would have to be considered a major victory with such a weak installment of the previously-terrific series. Armageddon dropped 32 percent to $16 million. I'm bored with this saga, so I'm laying off for today. Though I find it extremely bizarre that I am getting mail from people who think Godzilla is one of the worst disasters in movie history and that Armageddon, which should gross $20-$30 million more domestically and cost roughly the same, is a hit. Spin wins. Dr. Dolittle passed the $100 million mark in fifth place with $8.8 million, dropping just 32 percent in week four. In sixth is Small Soldiers, which didn't die, but may just fade away, dropping 41 percent for a $8.3 million take and the unfortunate likelihood that the film will not make it past $50 million domestically. Mulan also became a member of the $100 million club, dropping into seventh with $4.7 million (a 33 percent drop). Madeline zoomed past the $15 million mark with a Top 10-low 30 percent drop-off from last week's pathetic opening. This film could make $25 million! It could happen! (I mock, but $25 million would be really great for a film that opened so weakly.) The Truman Show passed the $120 million mark with another $2.2 million in a 39 percent drop for ninth place. And in the 10 Spot, there are two films (so I guess it's the Top 11 this week), with Six Days, Seven Nights and The X-Files going mano-a-alieno with an estimated $2 million apiece. Which studio will win this battle, Fox or Disney? No comment.

THE GOOD: Andrew Sarris, one of the truly historic film critics out there, is back in the saddle at the New York Observer. You can go to their site, but it won't do you any good unless you are an AOL subscriber. Check him out if you can. Also, from the NY Observer, Rex Reed hated Out of Sight, so now I am completely sure it's a great film.

THE BAD: I guess it's going to be me. After ragging on Disney for spinning, they had a real accomplishment with Armageddon, breaking the German record for the best four-day opening ever with about $8.9 million. That compares to $4.8 million for Deep Impact in its first seven days. And Godzilla hasn't stomped ashore yet. For a little perspective, Titanic (which I believe holds the three-day record) is still in the top film of the year there and still ranks in the Top 10 there after grabbing more than $125 million.

THE UGLY: Nothing really that horrible comes to mind. Guess I'm getting soft.

THE CHAT: This Friday, my weekly Yahoo! Chat premieres at 5 p.m. EDT/2 p.m. PDT. It's your chance to voice your opinions, ask all your questions and get some quick answers. And there may even be a special surprise guest. (It won't be a surprise to you. You're a Hot Button reader.) Mark your calendars.

TWO MOVIES EQUAL: There's Something About Mary + The Mask of Zorro = There's Something About Zorro. Leonardo DiCaprio may commit to the Farrelly Brothers' romantic comedy about an awkward young man who tracks his best friend from high school down to Mexico and realizes black leather and swordplay get him really hot. DiCaprio will reportedly get $50 million for playing another awkward teen and $787,000 for every kiss involving another man's tongue. Keep an eye out for a running gag about Zorro's cat who always seems to be in the wrong place when he pulls out the whip, and the film's "money shot," in which Zorro gets stuck to the saddle, literally.

JUST WONDERING: Why do critics feel the need to give away the jokes in a movie like There's Something About Mary? I think Paul Cullum's review of the film in New Times is one of the best written reviews of the film that I've read, but I won't be offering a link (write me if you really want it) because he gives away the big jokes, one of them in a parenthetical comment about one character's resemblance to Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day. I mean, a complete throwaway! Really pisses me off.

BAD AD WATCH: While Saving Private Ryan is still happily going along (this weekend in a three-page spread) without pull-quotes and Mafia! is making up pull-quotes ("I laughed so hard my gums bled," N.Y. Syndicate) the Bad Ad of this week goes to the indie film I Went Down, which is essentially a criminal/road trip/buddy movie, but features a woman in a very short shirt and a skin-tight top. Yes, she is in the movie. No, she's not a lead, and she certainly has nothing to do with the title. (There's Something About Mary is first runner up, as Fox uses pull-quotes that hint at some of the most shocking surprise gags ever put on film. If there is a hell for critics -- that would be redundant -- those giving away jokes in their reviews should be sent there post haste.)

READER OF THE DAY: Got lots of happy mail about Zorro. (And one negative letter about Out of Sight from Dr. J., though it's still only one compared to the tons of mail I've gotten thanking me for pushing them to the theater.) Plenty of well-written letters, but Krillian hit a point that I found most compelling. So even though I hate to give any one reader page space so often, he gets to be ROTD: "Saw Zorro opening night. I feel almost sheepish for defending Armageddon now. [David note: That's not the point I found so compelling.] Zorro has brought back what used to be truly enjoyable about summer movies -- STUNTMEN!!! [That's the one.] Zorro only had a couple of explosions, but it had swashbuckling, choreography, stuntmen flying and falling, swordfights galore, and even a very cool horse-stunt scene (my family owns five horses; we were tickled). The day after, there are parts of the plot that are fading on me, but at the time I was watching it, I was marveling at what a perfect popcorn movie Zorro is. And for once the villain wasn't totally flamboyant. He was a normal politician who just used killing people as one of his means to an end."

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E ME: Anyone out there hating Zorro? Or Mary? Or Madeline? Are you a little sick of CG showdowns every week, too?