SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 5, 2000 -- Despite all the hype, Madonna came in second best at the weekend box office.Studio tracking studies predicting a first-place opening for Paramount's "The Next Best Thing," the romantic comedy/drama teaming the Material Girl with Rupert Everett, were wrong. Instead, top honors went for the third consecutive weekend to Warner Bros.' "The Whole Nine Yards."Bruce Willis "Yards," the R-rated hit comedy from Warners, Morgan Creek and Franchise Pictures, held strongly in its third weekend with an estimated $7.31 million (-24%) at 2,793 theaters (-117 theaters, $2,617 per theater). Its total is approximately $38.5 million.Directed by Jonathan Lynn, "Yards" stars Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry."Unbelievable," Warner Bros. distribution executive Jeff Goldstein said Sunday morning, delighted with how well "Yards" was ho
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 27, 2000 -- Warner Bros.' "The Whole Nine Yards" easily held on to first place despite tracking studies that had projected Dimension Films' opening of "Reindeer Games" would be the weekend's big winner. "Reindeer Games " Although the tracking data had pointed to an opening of $10 million to $12 million for "Reindeer," no film managed to crack double digits last weekend. "Reindeer" wound up an embarrassed No. 3 for the weekend with a red face and nose. The weekend's only other wide opening, Paramount's "Wonder Boys," lived up to tracking expectations, finishing out of the Top Five, in seventh place, with a grim estimated $5.85 million. The best-performing film of the bunch continued to be "Yards," Morgan Creek and Franchise Pictures' R-rated comedy. "Yards" continued laughing atop the chart in its second weekend with an estimated $9.61 million
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 21, 2000 -- Moviegoers split their Presidents Day weekend box-office votes almost equally between the mob comedy "The Whole Nine Yards" and the chick flick "Hanging Up." "The Whole Nine Yards" While reports show both films tied for No. 1 with about $16.1 million for the four-day Friday through Monday holiday period, "The Whole Nine Yards," starring Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry, is really ahead by about $35,000 in estimated grosses. (That could change when final numbers are released Tuesday.) Rounding out the Top Five were the family comedy "Snow Day," the new sci-fi thriller "Pitch Black" and Disney's "The Tigger Movie." Notably missing in action: Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Beach." "The Whole Nine Yards" laughed all the way to the bank with an estimated $16.135 million at 2,910 theaters ($5,545 per theater). "I'm thrilled," Wa