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'Hardball' Debuts at No. 1
Sunday, September 16, 2001 4:59 PM EDT
"Hardball", a new baseball melodrama starring Keanu Reeves, led the North American box office at the weekend, when overall ticket sales were surprisingly strong given the distraction of last Tuesday's terror attacks in New York and Washington.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, the top 12 films tallied $54 million for the three days beginning Friday, up 43 percent from the year-ago period, when "The Watcher" -- a thriller also starring Reeves - was tops amid competition from the summer Olympic Games.
"It's obvious that some people are a little stir crazy and need to get out of the house," said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures.
"Hardball" grossed an estimated $10.1 million in its first three days of release, according to Paramount Pictures, which distributed the film in North America. A spokeswoman estimated the film could have made between $12 million and $15 million if it had not been for the attacks.
The box office is traditionally weak at this time of the year, when studios burn off modest releases before rolling out their big fall projects. Indeed this weekend's tally was the lowest of the year for the second consecutive weekend, off 12 percent from Sept. 7-9.
Overall business on Friday was weak because of memorial services and candlelight vigils, but it bounced back Saturday and was expected to be similarly strong Sunday, said Wayne Lewellen, Paramount's president of distribution. Final data for the three-day period will be released on Monday.
In "Hardball", Reeves plays a baseball coach in inner-city Chicago. Paramount's publicity efforts were hampered by the television networks' commercial-free coverage of the attacks. Reeves had promoted "Hardball" at a press junket last weekend, but none of those stories have run yet, the Paramount spokeswoman said. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc.
Another new release, "The Glass House" grabbed the No. 2 spot with a weak $6.1 million. The thriller, starring Leelee Sobieski, cost about $22 million to make and should be profitable, said a Columbia Pictures spokesman. Sony-owned studio adopted what he called "a very focused campaign" on younger females aged 13 and above. Sobieski plays a newly orphaned teen taken in by evil guardians.
Last weekend's champion, "The Musketeer", slipped to No. 3 with $5.3 million in its second round, taking its 10-day total to $17.6 million. The film, a swashbuckling take on Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers", was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal.
The sole wide new release next weekend is "Glitter", the feature headlining debut of pop singer Mariah Carey. Two other films scheduled for that date have been delayed because of the attacks. "Training Day", starring Denzel Washington as a corrupt L.A. cop, will now open on Oct. 5. "Big Trouble", an ensemble comedy starring Tim Allen, is still awaiting a new date.
While Americans have shown that they are prepared to take in new movies, some studio executives said promotional efforts would continue to be affected since actors and directors might feel uncomfortable resuming the usual publicity grind.
"I think it's pretty difficult for a major movie star to sit on a couch and talk about a new film," said Warner Bros.' Fellman.
At least in the case of Twentieth Century Fox's "Glitter", Carey has been out of the public eye for several weeks dealing with a mental breakdown.
Rounding out the top five films were the Nicole Kidman thriller "The Others" up one place to No. 4 with $4.8 million in its sixth weekend; and the urban romantic comedy "Two Can Play That Game" down three places to No. 5 with $4.7 million in its second weekend. Their respective totals are $73.6 million and $13.9 million.
Elsewhere, Julie Andrews' "The Princess Diaries" added $2.6 million to pass the century mark in its seventh weekend. The Walt Disney Pictures comedy, which slipped two places to No. 11, has pulled in $100.1 million to date.
Dimension Films and Walt Disney Pictures are units of Walt Disney Co. and Screen Gems is a unit of Sony Corp. Fox is a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc . Warner Bros. is a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc.
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