Dimension Films' hit PG-13 thriller The Others fell four rungs to ninth place in its ninth week with a less scary ESTIMATED $3.0 million (-39 percent) at 2,272 theaters (-452 theaters; $1,320 per theater). Others, which cost only $17 million to make, has a cume of approximately $90.7 million, heading for $100 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Alejandro Amenabar, it stars Nicole Kidman.
Rounding out the Top Ten was New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated action comedy blockbuster sequel Rush Hour 2, which was sixth last week, with an okay ESTIMATED $1.78 million in its tenth week (-29 percent) at 1,549 theaters (-537 theaters; $1,146 per theater). Its cume is approximately $221.6 million, heading for $225 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Brett Ratner, it stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
OTHER OPENINGS
This weekend saw no other wide releases.
SNEAK PREVIEWS
This weekend saw MGM hold 1,000 well-attended sneak previews Saturday night of its PG-13 rated comedy Bandits. The sneaks were held at theaters playing Paramount's Hardball, which reflected their success in its Saturday grosses. After doing about $0.9 million on Friday, Hardball soared to about $1.75 million on Saturday, up about 95 percent.
Directed by Barry Levinson, it stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Cate Blanchett.
"We were two-thirds full overall with 15 percent sell-outs," MGM marketing executive Amanda Lundberg said Sunday morning. "80 percent were in the Top Two Boxes (excellent and very good). 70 percent definite recommend. The average age was between 25 and 34. It was 52 percent male and 48 percent female.
"We're thrilled. It's exactly what we wanted. It's exactly why you sneak a picture. It's exactly what you hope to get when you sneak a picture."
Bandits opens Friday (Oct. 12) at about 3,000 theaters.
EXPANSIONS
There was no significant action on the expansion front this weekend.
INTERNATIONAL
Universal International reported Sunday morning that it had the number one and two films in Germany this weekend with American Pie 2 and Bridget Jones's Diary. Pie 2 in its second week in theaters grossed $3.9 million for Thursday-Saturday, bringing its 10 day cume to $16.6 million, the year's 10-day best for any film playing in Germany. Bridget in its seventh week took in $0.8 million, bringing its 45 day cume to $18 million.
In Austria, Pie 2 was first on the chart in its second week with $0.38 million in ticket sales for Friday-Saturday. Its nine day cume is $1.8 million, matching what Pearl Harbor did but running 47 percent ahead of The Mummy Returns and 145 percent ahead of Jurassic Park III.
In the Netherlands, Pie 2 opened to over $0.5 million for three days, more than double the first four days for the original American Pie.
In Spain, Universal's The Fast and the Furious got off to a strong start this weekend with