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Angels Attracts Heavenly B.O.
7 November 2000 (StudioBriefing)
Box office analysts were still expressing amazement Monday as final figures were released for the weekend showing Sony's Charlie's Angels earning $40.1 million. (The other nine films on the top-ten list took in $52 million combined.) Only last year's Toy Story 2 (1999) has earned more with a non-summer debut -- and the Disney flick was released over the Thanksgiving Day holiday. After occupying the top spot throughout October, Universal's Meet the Parents (2000) slipped to second place, earning $12.6 million, but just 13 percent less than its take a week earlier. The film, which cost $51 million to produce, has now grossed $116.5 million. DreamWorks' Legend of Bagger Vance, The (2000), starring Matt Damon and Will Smith, opened in third place with a so-so $11.5 million. With Halloween out of mind, Artisan's Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 dropped 62 percent from its opening weekend to $5 million, winding up in fifth place.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Charlie's Angels Sony, $40, 128, 550, (New); 2. Meet the Parents (2000), Universal, $12, 638, 560, ($116, 464, 490); 3. Legend of Bagger Vance, The (2000), DreamWorks, $11, 516, 712, (New); 4. Remember the Titans (2000), Disney, $6, 961, 283, ($96, 737, 442); 5. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Artisan, $5, 011, 801, ($21, 799, 939); 6. Bedazzled, 20th Century Fox, $4, 655, 978, ($30, 811, 044); 7. Pay It Forward, Warner Bros., $4, 278, 516, ($25, 126, 486); 8. Little Vampire, The (2000), New Line, $3, 505, 436, ($9, 975, 263); 9. Lucky Numbers, Paramount, $2, 051, 958, ($7, 709, 806); 10. The Legend of Drunken Master Dimension, $1, 571, 681, ($9, 719, 472).

Bagger Hits One Into The Rough
6 November 2000 (StudioBriefing)
The only other major new entry, DreamWorks' Legend of Bagger Vance, The (2000), starring Will Smith and Matt Damon, performed below par, earning $12 million, just below the 13.1 million garnered by Universal's comedy, Meet the Parents (2000), which can now boast a five-week total of $116.9 million. Last week's second-place finisher, Artisan's Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, sank 60 percent, ending up with just $5.3 million. Paramount's Lucky Numbers, starring John Travolta, displayed none of them, earning only $2.2 million as it fell 53 percent in its second weekend.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Charlie's Angels $40.5 million; 2. Meet the Parents, $13.1 million; 3. The Legend of Bagger Vance, $12 million; 4. Remember the Titans, $7 million; 5. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, $5.3 million; 6. Bedazzled, $4.7 million; 7. Pay It Forward, $4.4 million; 8. The Little Vampire, $3.6 million; 9. Lucky Numbers, $2.2 million; 10. The Legend of Drunken Master $1.6 million.

B.O. Obeys 5th Commandment
31 October 2000 (StudioBriefing)
Universal's Meet the Parents, starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, had little difficulty holding off a challenge from Artisan's Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 over the weekend. In its fourth week, the De Niro-Stiller comedy earned $15 million (bringing its gross past the $100 million mark), while Blair Witch 2 wound up debuting with $13.2 million. (Appearing on CNN's Showbiz Today Monday, movie analyst Martin Grove credited the continued success of Parents to cagey casting by the producers. "After There Is Something About Mary, there is something about Ben Stiller, " Grove said, "And certainly, what that something is is [that] he brings in the young audience. ... Robert De Niro has the adult audience. ... That means that everybody is going to see Meet the Parents.") Artisan execs claimed that the result was not a disappointment, despite earlier predictions by many analysts that the Blair Witch sequel would easily trounce the competition. Artisan spokesman Paul Pflug told Bloomberg News: "With any film we always hope for the highest opening weekend possible, and even in this case we are pleased with the numbers, because this shows the film will be profitable for us." Disney's Remember the Titans (2000) remained in third place with $8 million. Ticket sales for the top 12 films totaled $80 million -- up 30 percent over the comparable weekend a year ago.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Meet the Parents (2000), Universal, $15, 048, 475, ($100, 014, 250); 2. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Artisan, $13, 223, 887, (New); 3. Remember the Titans (2000), Disney, $8, 027, 728, ($87, 767, 175); 4. Bedazzled, 20th Century Fox, $7, 829, 426, ($24, 146, 411); 5. Pay It Forward, Warner Bros., $6, 803, 726, ($19, 035, 222); 6. Little Vampire, The (2000), New Line, $5, 719, 627, (New); 7. Lucky Numbers, Paramount, $4, 536, 625, (New); 8. Contender, The (2000), DreamWorks, $2, 451, 799, ($13, 986, 191); 9. The Legend of Drunken Master Dimension, $2, 429, 386, ($7, 379, 757); 10. Best in Show (2000), Warner Bros., $1, 827, 376, ($9, 239, 552).

It Wasn't The Witch-Ing Hour, After All
30 October 2000 (StudioBriefing)
The Blair Witch sequel gave up the ghost over the weekend, failing to open in the top spot at the box office as most analysts had predicted. Instead, Universal's Meet the Parents (2000) remained at No. 1 for the fourth straight week, earning $15.1 million and bringing its total to date past the $100-million mark. (Today's Daily Variety noted that it was the first comedy since 1996's Birdcage, The (1996) to remain in first place for four straight weeks.) Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was in second place at $13.1 million, despite opening on 3, 317 screens. It is expected to fade fast. As Robert Bucksbaum, president of Reel Source Inc., told Bloomberg News: "If a horror film isn't going to win on Halloween week, then when is it going to?" Meanwhile, Disney's Remember the Titans (2000) continued to show strong legs, remaining in third place with $8 million to bring its total to $87.7 million. Bedazzled, which opened in second place a week ago, fell 41 percent to $7.7 million, to wind up in fourth place. The debut of the kids' flick Little Vampire, The (2000) brought in $5.5 million, putting it in sixth place, while the new Lucky Numbers starring John Travolta wound up an unlucky No. 7 with just $4.6 million. "We're definitely disappointed, " Rob Friedman, vice chairman of Paramount motion-pictures group, told the Associated Press about Numbers. "We felt it was the sort of offbeat, dark comedy that audiences would embrace, and they didn't."

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Meet the Parents (2000), $15.1 million; 2. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, $13.1 million; 3. Remember the Titans (2000), $8 million; 4. Bedazzled, $7.7 million; 5. Pay It Forward, $6.9 million; 6. Little Vampire, The (2000), $5.5 million; 7. Lucky Numbers, $4.6 million; 8. Contender, The (2000), $2.5 million; 9. The Legend of Drunken Master $2.3 million; 10. Best in Show (2000), $1.8 million.

Movie Reviews: The Little Vampire
27 October 2000 (StudioBriefing)
The best-reviewed film of the weekend is the kids movie, Little Vampire, The (2000). It will be able to fill a full-page newspaper ad with critical praise. Lou Lumenick in the New York Post calls it "a guaranteed crowd-pleaser for the whole family." Or how about this appreciation from Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times: "Not often does a family film come along that is literate, clever, mischievous and just plain fun." Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times, however, disagrees with most of his colleagues, calling the film "dimwitted but visually intriguing" and offering this final assessment: "Children over 12 may indeed find it babyish, and those under 12 may find it not babyish enough."

Richard E. Grant Sparks Fear With On Set Antics
15 June 2000 (WENN)
Richard E. Grant distressed the parents of several child actors on the set of his latest movie Little Vampire, The (2000) by encouraging the tiny stars to set fire to their wind. The actor stars in the tale of a family of Scottish vampires saved from death by their human friends - with co-stars Tommy Hinkley and Jerry Maguire (1996) star Jonathan Lipnicki. Grant kept on set spirits high by trying to set fire to his flatulence in a bid to amuse the cast of children - but the actor's on-set fun led to panic as the four child actors tried to mimic Grant's antics. Hinkley says, "The kids just loved watching Richard set fire to his farts. It became a bit of a problem when they started copying him. There were some concerned parents out there."