As for who was there opening weekend, Viane said, "Actually, from 12 to 80. It was everybody. Again, there are new types of family movies and this is one of them. It's a rating friendly movie (with a PG-13) families had every reason to believe everybody would like it. Friday night the teens came out. Last night and yesterday afternoon the families came out. Last night the adults came out and couples. Interestingly enough, even on Saturday night some 30 percent-plus of our audience was teenagers. That's very strong for a Saturday."
Pointing to the film's CinemaScore exit polls, Viane said, "Every group gave it an A. The men were all A minuses and the women were all A's. The playability is terrific. I think it's going to have big time legs. Do I know there's a huge picture (Universal's Red Dragon) coming in next week? Yes. But I think we're demographically sufficiently different and crowd pleasing, so I think we'll be there for a long time."
DreamWorks' PG-13 action comedy The Tuxedo opened in second place to a well dressed ESTIMATED $15.1 million at 3,022 theaters ($4,997 per theater).
Directed by Kevin Donovan, it stars Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
"It's a good opening," DreamWorks distribution head Jim Tharp said Sunday morning. "Going in, we were looking at (Jackie Chan's) Shanghai Noon as a comparison. This compares very favorably to their opening, which was on a holiday weekend ($19.65 million for the four day Memorial Day weekend of May 26-29, 2000)."
Asked if DreamWorks was pleased, Tharp observed, "We had to be pleased since the The Tuxedo gross was very close to the opening of Shanghai Noon, which opened on a holiday weekend."
Those on hand, Tharp noted, were "55 percent male. 44 percent of the audience was families, which is very high. 54 percent were under 25. It should continue to be the family movie of choice for the next few weeks."
MGM's PG-13 rated urban appeal comedy Barbershop fell two pegs to third place in its third week, still holding well with an ESTIMATED $10.1 million (-21%) at 2,051 theaters (+157 theaters; $4,924 per theater). Its cume is approximately $51.4 million, heading for $65 million or more in domestic theaters.
Directed by Tim Story, it stars Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve and Cedric The Entertainer.
IFC Films' release of Gold Circle Films and HBO's PG rated romantic comedy blockbuster My Big Fat Greek Wedding slid one slot to fourth place in its 24th week, still showing great legs with an ESTIMATED $9.77 million (even) at 1,841 theaters (-12 theaters; $5,307 per theater). Its cume is approximately $137.0 million, heading for $160 million in domestic theaters.
When Wedding passes $140.5 million later this week it will break the record set by Artisan Entertainment's The Blair Witch Project and become the domestic box office's biggest grossing independent film ever.
Directed by Joel Zwick, it stars Nia Vardalos and John Corbett.
Fox Searchlight Pictures' R rated low budget comedy The Banger Sisters slid three rungs to fifth place in its second week with a less lively ESTIMATED $5.43 million (-46%) at 2,738 theaters (theater count unchanged; $1,981 per theater). Its cume is approximately $18.8 million.
Written and directed by Bob Dolman, it stars Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush.
Paramount and Miramax's PG-13 rated very expensive romantic epic The Four Feathers added theaters in its second week and fell one notch to sixth place with a depressing ESTIMATED $3.63 million (-47%) at 2,187 theaters ($1,658 per theater). Its cume is approximately $12.5 million.
Directed by Shekhar Kapur, it stars Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley and Kate Hudson.