Weekend Box Office (November 10 - 12, 2000)

THIS WEEKEND No recount was necessary as the women of Charlie's Angels were elected to a second term atop the box office despite facing intense competition from a trio of high-profile new candidates. Sony's action-adventure smash grossed $24.6M, according to final studio figures, sliding a reasonable 39% from its blockbuster debut. After ten days, the big-budget flick has amassed a stellar $75M and could reach $140-150M domestically. In its maiden voyage overseas, Charlie's Angels rocketed to number one in Japan on Saturday with an opening day that was on par with that of X-Men, according to the studio's worldwide marketing and distribution president Jeff Blake. Starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu, Angels is well-positioned to bring the overseas box office out of its autumn doldrums with dozens of territorial debuts throughout November.

Opening in second place was Adam Sandler's newest comedy Little Nicky with $15.3M - nearly $3M less than originally estimated. The New Line release premiered extremely wide in 2,910 theaters and averaged a so-so $5,244. Sandler plays the son of the Devil who is sent to New York to find his evil brothers. Thursday night previews in selected cities brought the total gross to $16.1M. Little Nicky's performance pales in comparison to Sandler's recent efforts. Last year's Big Daddy opened with $41.5M while 1998's The Waterboy debuted with $39.4M. Both films went on to gross over $160M. Little Nicky delivered the smallest opening for Sandler since 1996's Bulletproof which bowed to just $6M. Nicky's target audience of young males were harder to reach this time with all the competition in the marketplace. The devilish picture was also the comedian's most expensive to date ($70-80M according to reports) due to special effects and Sandler's ever-rising salary.


Making an impressive debut in third place was the military drama Men of Honor with $13.3M. The Fox title stars Cuba Gooding Jr. as the Navy's first black diver and Robert De Niro as his commander. A launch in 2,092 theaters gave the $38M film a strong $6,376 average. Exit polls were extremely honorable as audiences gave the movie an A grade according to CinemaScore. Unlike the top two films this weekend, the R-rated Men of Honor played more to an older crowd. With a potent opening average, excellent audience scores, and a wave of younger-skewing holiday releases on the horizon, Men of Honor could enjoy a solid run in the weeks ahead.

Robert De Niro also occupied the fourth slot with the runaway hit comedy Meet the Parents which brought in $10.3M in its sixth weekend. The Universal/DreamWorks co-production has now grossed $130M and continues to experience the lowest decline in the top ten sliding just 18% this weekend. Doing double duty in the top ten is nothing new for De Niro. The Oscar-winning actor achieved this feat in January 1998 with Wag the Dog and Jackie Brown as well as in December 1995 with Heat and Casino.

Landing in fifth place with $8.7M was the science fiction action picture Red Planet starring Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss. The Warner Bros. release launched in 2,703 theaters but averaged a mild $3,227 per site in a crowded marketplace. By comparison, Mission to Mars, this year's other Mars movie, opened at number one with $22.9M in a wide open March weekend. Filled with special effects, Red Planet will need better results from international and home video markets in order to cover its hefty pricetag which is estimated to be near $80M.


Falling an unhealthy 45% in its second weekend, the golf drama The Legend of Bagger Vance grossed $6.3M. With $20.9M in ten days, the Robert Redford-directed film looks to reach $35-40M domestically. After a landmark summer in which it launched blockbusters like Gladiator, What Lies Beneath, and Chicken Run, DreamWorks has struggled this fall with Almost Famous, The Contender, and now Bagger Vance. The Will Smith-Matt Damon film's overseas partner Fox will have its hands full trying to find success in international waters with a very American story. For Smith, Bagger Vance ends his streak of four straight $100M+ grossers and will represent his lowest-earning film since becoming a headlining Hollywood movie star.

Denzel Washington, on the other hand, reached a new career-high this weekend with a sports drama of his own. Remember the Titans collected $5.2M and lifted its total to $103.8M surpassing the $100.8M tally of 1993's The Pelican Brief becoming the actor's highest-grossing movie ever. Off only 26% in its seventh weekend, Titans is the eldest statesman in the top ten.

Further proving that it will be a force to reckon with in the independent film business, rookie distributor Universal Focus expanded Billy Elliot from 119 to 494 theaters and earned a spot in the North American top ten with a $2.6M weekend take. Placing ninth, the British hit averaged a solid $5,270 per location and brought its domestic sum to $5.8M. In the United Kingdom and Australia, Billy Elliot has already grossed over $20M.


Rounding out the top ten were Pay it Forward in eighth place with $3M and Bedazzled in tenth place with $2.5M. Cumes stand at $29.4M and $34.6M respectively.

Four of the top ten films at the box office this weekend were originally slated for a summer release before being pushed to the October-November period. Charlie's Angels, Red Planet, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and Bedazzled were all given new release dates by their distributors for various reasons. Add in Paramount's Lucky Numbers and the total climbs to five. Of the group, Angels has been the only one to become a breakout hit.

In limited release, the Paramount family enjoyed encouraging results from a pair of pics. The Michael Douglas film Wonder Boys was reissued in 15 theaters and collected $87,505 for a decent $5,834 average. Playing in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago, the Curtis Hanson-directed drama is being aimed at top critics and Academy members in hopes of winning year-end kudos. Wonder Boys has now grossed $18.8M to date.

Paramount Classics debuted the Sundance pickup You Can Count On Me in New York and Los Angeles and scooped up $118,170 from eight theaters for a sizzling $14,771 average. Backed by glowing reviews, the sibling drama expands on Friday.

Four October releases fell out of the top ten over the weekend. New Line's family film The Little Vampire took in $2.3M and should end its run with $17-19M. Book of Shadows : Blair Witch 2 continued to crumble dropping 61% to $1.9M in its third weekend. With a cume of $25.1M, the $15M Artisan sequel looks to reach $27-29M.


Jackie Chan's The Legend of Drunken Master has kicked its way to $11M and is likely to conclude with around $13M. The John Travolta lottery comedy Lucky Numbers plunged another 65% this weekend and should end with a dismal $10M.

The top ten films grossed $91.9M over the weekend which was up 10% from last year when Pokemon debuted in the top spot with $31M; and up 10% from 1998 when The Waterboy spent a second frame at number one with $24.4M.

New releases experienced opening grosses that were nowhere near projections. Little Nicky and Red Planet were both well below my respective forecasts of $35M and $14M. Men of Honor debuted much better than my $9M prediction.


Take this week's NEW Reader Survey on Arnold Schwarzenegger's action film The Sixth Day. In last week's survey, readers were asked which of five November films they wanted to see the most. Of 2,510 responses, 42% picked Unbreakable, 25% chose How The Grinch Stole Christmas, 20% selected The Sixth Day, 8% picked Little Nicky, and 5% chose Red Planet.

Read the Weekly Rewind column which looks at the smallest openings for films debuting in over 3,000 theaters. For a review of Little Nicky visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend's big openings which include The Grinch, Rugrats in Paris, The Sixth Day, and Bounce.

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

# Title Nov. 10 - 12 Nov. 3 - 5 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Dist.
1 Charlie's Angels $ 24,606,860 $ 40,128,550 -38.7 3,037 2 $ 8,102 $ 75,011,318 Sony
2 Little Nicky 15,260,000 2,910 1 5,244 16,063,904 New Line
3 Men of Honor 13,339,465 2,092 1 6,376 13,339,465 Fox
4 Meet the Parents 10,342,995 12,638,560 -18.2 2,697 6 3,835 130,013,885 Universal
5 Red Planet 8,721,296 2,703 1 3,227 8,721,296 Warner Bros.
6 The Legend of Bagger Vance 6,315,993 11,516,712 -45.2 2,162 2 2,921 20,896,346 DreamWorks
7 Remember the Titans 5,182,414 6,961,283 -25.6 2,641 7 1,962 103,800,570 Buena Vista
8 Pay it Forward 3,025,447 4,278,516 -29.3 2,005 4 1,509 29,363,880 Warner Bros.
9 Billy Elliot 2,603,380 1,034,005 151.8 494 5 5,270 5,803,845 Uni. Focus
10 Bedazzled 2,510,770 4,655,978 -46.1 2,137 4 1,175 34,626,487 Fox
11 The Little Vampire 2,279,367 3,505,436 -35.0 1,892 3 1,205 12,967,019 New Line
12 Blair Witch 2 1,936,038 5,011,801 -61.4 2,411 3 803 25,079,077 Artisan
13 Best in Show 1,232,772 1,505,724 -18.1 477 7 2,584 12,921,645 Warner Bros.
14 The Legend of Drunken Master 728,096 1,571,681 -53.7 888 4 820 10,962,701 Miramax
15 Lucky Numbers 723,802 2,051,958 -64.7 1,640 3 441 9,010,743 Paramount
16 The Contender 557,741 1,366,251 -59.2 653 5 854 17,065,939 DreamWorks
17 The Exorcist (reissue) 338,512 807,497 -58.1 455 8 744 39,239,337 Warner Bros.
18 Almost Famous 304,200 460,581 -34.0 267 9 1,139 30,950,060 DreamWorks
19 Cyberworld 263,569 230,078 14.6 33 6 7,987 2,181,624 IMAX
20 Requiem for a Dream 242,014 251,313 -3.7 35 6 6,915 1,002,532 Artisan
Top 5 $ 72,270,616 $ 76,256,906 -5.2
Top 10 91,908,620 92,320,475 -0.4
Top 20 100,514,731 99,975,283 0.5
Top 20 vs. 1999 100,514,731 99,055,356 1.5

Last Updated : November 14 at 1:45AM EST

Written by Gitesh Pandya