Weekend Box Office (June 21 - 23, 2002)

THIS WEEKEND Final weekend grosses reported by Fox and Disney showed that the former studio's Tom Cruise-Steven Spielberg thriller Minority Report grossed $35,677,125 over the weekend edging out the latter's animated comedy Lilo & Stitch which collected $35,260,212 during the same period. Original estimates released on Sunday morning showed Minority with $36.9M while Lilo was estimated by its distributor at $35.8M. With Sunday grosses now tabulated, the Cruise flick fell about $1.2M from its estimate while the Disney toon eased back by about $540,000. It was a heated box office battle with most studios expecting Lilo & Stitch to prevail, but final numbers have officially given Spielberg and Cruise yet another number one opening for their careers.

Playing in 3,001 theaters, Minority Report chased down a stellar $11,888 average and became the ninth consecutive number one opening for a Tom Cruise starring vehicle. The PG-13 sci-fi tale finds the bankable actor playing a cop in the year 2054 whose "precrime" division arrests perpetrators before they commit murder. When he himself is marked as a future killer, the race is on to clear his name and prove that the system is fallible. With a budget of $102M, Minority Report brought together two of Hollywood's most commercially successful talents who are accustomed to calling the number one spot their home. Cruise's last starring vehicle to fail to debut at the top of the charts came a decade ago with Far and Away which premiered at number three in May 1992.

Adults made up the primary audience for Minority Report with 64% of the crowd being age 25 and older and 52% being male, according to Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder. Critics gave the Spielberg film rave reviews and moviegoers polled by CinemaScore.com gave the futuristic thriller a good B+ grade.

Disney, which publicly expressed on Sunday that it believed Lilo & Stitch will end up with the bigger weekend gross, launched its latest animated offering in 3,191 theaters for a potent $11,050 average. The PG-rated toon played to a family audience but also to teen and adult couples, according to Rod Rodriguez, distribution executive at Buena Vista. In addition to glowing reviews, Lilo was embraced by ticket buyers as studio exit polls reported that a whopping 98% considered the film to be "excellent" or "very good" while CinemaScore.com patrons gave the $80M picture a solid A grade. Females made up 55% of the crowd.

The opening for Lilo & Stitch represented the second best debut ever for a hand drawn animated film after the studio's own 1994 smash The Lion King which roared to a $40.9M bow.

Minority Report and Lilo & Stitch both arrived into the marketplace on a wave of hype and positive buzz but targeted different audiences. Minority skewed adult while Lilo attracted kids. The toon did have the advantage of playing in 190 more theaters and running an hour shorter in length allowing for more showtimes per day. Report however offered the dream team star combo of Spielberg and Cruise whose face seemed to grace the cover of every magazine last week.

Watching the box office battle from third place was last weekend's top dog, Scooby Doo, which tumbled 55% in its sophomore frame to $24.5M. The $80M Warner Bros. franchise film crossed the century mark on Sunday, its tenth day of release, with $100.3M coming out of the weekend. Scooby Doo and his meddling teenage pals look to end up with $155-165M domestically.

Matt Damon's assassin-with-amnesia thriller The Bourne Identity dropped 44% in its second assignment to $15.1M. Universal's $60M action entry has grossed $54.4M in ten days and looks headed for a finish of $90-100M making it one of the actor's highest-grossing starring vehicles.

Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman came close to reaching the $100M mark with their nuclear action pic The Sum of All Fears which grossed $7.8M. The Paramount film lifted its cume to $97.3M after its fourth lap.

MGM's big-budget WWII picture Windtalkers retreated a disturbing 55% in its second weekend collecting just $6.6M in its second weekend. With a pricetag in the neighborhood of $120M, the Nicolas Cage film has taken in just $26.6M in its first ten days and should find its way to a poor $40-45M giving its studio yet another pricey flop this year after Rollerball and Hart's War.

Scoring some points in eighth place was the new basketball comedy Juwanna Mann which opened with $5.5M from just 1,325 theaters for a decent $4,132 average. The Warner Bros. release about a booted hoops star who crossdresses and joins the women's league stars Miguel Nunez Jr., Vivica A. Fox, and Tommy Davidson. Reviews were not kind but audiences polled by CinemaScore.com gave the PG-13 film a nice B+ grade.

In its third weekend, the estrogen comedy Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood slipped only 32% to $6M pushing its cume to $46.7M. Fox's Star Wars Episode II dropped 45% to $5.2M boosting its total to $279.8M after its sixth weekend. Fellow megahit Spider-Man rounded out the top ten with $4.6M for a $390.4M haul.

Three films left the top ten over the weekend. The $25M spoof comedy Undercover Brother fell 52% to $2.1M in its fourth mission. With $35.5M in the bank, the Universal release will reach $38-40M.The action-comedy Bad Company, starring the oddball duo of Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock, fell apart dropping 64% to $2.1M in its third weekend. With $26.5M in 17 days, the Buena Vista release looks to conclude its run with a disappointing $28-30M. DreamWorks also witnessed a steep decline for the animated adventure Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron which has taken in $68.3M to date and should retire with around $70-75M.

The top ten films grossed $146M which was up 10% from last year when The Fast and the Furious opened at number one with $40.1M; and up 55% from 2000 when Me, Myself, and Irene debuted in the top spot with $24.2M.


Compared to projections, Lilo & Stitch opened stronger than my $28M forecast while Minority Report debuted on target with my $35M prediction. Juwanna Mann premiered a notch below my $7M projection.

Take this week's NEW Reader Survey on Mr. Deeds. In last week's survey, readers were asked which of the last two Star Wars films they liked more. Of 4,143 responses, 71% voted for Episode II while 29% picked Episode I.

For a review of Lilo & Stitch visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when Mr. Deeds and Hey Arnold! both debut.

Marketplace: Shop for videos, DVDs, music, books, and posters at discounted prices using search engines

# Title Jun 21 - 23 Jun 14 - 16 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Minority Report $ 35,677,125 3,001 1 $ 11,888 $ 35,677,125 Fox
2 Lilo & Stitch 35,260,212 3,191 1 11,050 35,260,212 Buena Vista
3 Scooby Doo 24,476,416 54,155,312 -54.8 3,447 2 7,101 100,311,218 Warner Bros.
4 The Bourne Identity 15,078,315 27,118,640 -44.4 2,643 2 5,705 54,384,585 Universal
5 The Sum of All Fears 7,764,295 13,456,325 -42.3 3,037 4 2,557 97,293,319 Paramount
6 Windtalkers 6,551,131 14,520,412 -54.9 2,898 2 2,261 26,600,014 MGM
7 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood 6,028,457 8,874,585 -32.1 2,310 3 2,610 46,711,890 Warner Bros.
8 Juwanna Mann 5,474,270 1,325 1 4,132 5,474,270 Warner Bros.
9 Star Wars Episode II 5,151,029 9,438,607 -45.4 2,107 6 2,445 279,828,712 Fox
10 Spider-Man 4,555,932 7,515,984 -39.4 2,278 8 2,000 390,382,313 Sony
11 Bad Company 2,127,963 5,872,984 -63.8 1,562 3 1,362 26,494,873 Buena Vista
12 Undercover Brother 2,120,615 4,424,295 -52.1 1,305 4 1,625 35,489,475 Universal
13 Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron 1,995,439 5,223,491 -61.8 2,005 5 995 68,310,507 DreamWorks
14 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 1,776,990 1,755,197 1.2 444 9 4,002 16,318,140 IFC Films
15 Insomnia 1,768,478 3,489,421 -49.3 1,343 5 1,317 61,752,036 Warner Bros.
16 About A Boy 1,210,015 1,482,425 -18.4 804 6 1,505 37,305,400 Universal
17 Space Station 597,854 625,025 -4.3 55 10 10,870 9,584,044 Imax
18 Enough 585,840 1,685,518 -65.2 618 5 948 38,518,101 Sony
19 The Importance of Being Earnest 527,454 606,061 -13.0 201 5 2,624 4,204,118 Miramax
20 Unfaithful 356,399 763,458 -53.3 335 7 1,064 51,340,028 Fox
Top 5 $ 118,256,363 $ 118,689,296 -0.4
Top 10 146,017,182 150,600,635 -3.0
Top 20 159,084,229 161,815,975 -1.7
Top 20 vs. 2001 159,084,229 138,813,469 14.6

Last Updated : June 24, 2002 at 9:00PM EDT