HOLLYWOOD - Americans played Hardball at the box office this weekend, finding some much needed escape from the week's tragic news. Ticket sales by key films -- those grossing $500,000 or more for the weekend -- were approximately $61.2 million, up about 29 percent from the comparable weekend last year's total of $47.4 million.
Insiders had speculated that ticket sales this weekend would hinge on whether there was any new big breaking news. In the event that there was major breaking news, Americans would almost certainly have remained glued to their television sets as they had been for most of last week. In the happy absence of new big breaking news, it seemed likely the public would turn to movies for some escape.
"There was resilience (in the marketplace) and it was amazing," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman observed Sunday morning. "I think it was great. The American people wanted to get out of the house. We're 26 or 28 percent ahead of last year (based on Warners' early estimates). There was a huge bump between Friday and Saturday (for many films). I think people needed a little relief and they went to the movies."
Asked about ticket sales in the New York area, Fellman said, "New York was exceptionally strong. I looked at (Paramount's) Hardball on Friday night and the screen average in L.A. was $2,000 and the number two market was New York at $1,800 (per theater for Friday). And usually that's the normal pattern. Now, obviously, there are theaters in Manhattan (where business was down). You can take isolated areas and make an argument (that people stayed away). But, in general, Washington (also) was where it should be on the charts. I think people needed a little escapism."
With neither of the weekend's new films -- Paramount's Little League baseball comedy drama Hardball and Columbia's suspense thriller The Glass House -- being big high profile releases, however, the weekend's box office potential was clearly limited no matter what was happening in the world.
Nonetheless, this weekend's total was down by only about 11 percent from the previous weekend this year when key films took in $68.8 million. That suggested to some industry executives that there would have been a lot more moviegoing this weekend if the films Hollywood happened to have scheduled to open now had stronger commercial appeal.
"Unfortunately, there was nothing compelling (for people to see)," another distribution executive, who asked not to be identified, pointed out Sunday morning. "It would have been a great weekend to open a really great comedy where there's real escapism. There are no sporting events (this weekend) and TV is now becoming more depressing. The truth of the matter is that people are looking for something to escape to."
