HOLLYWOOD - Hollywood's summer, which came in like a lion with Spider-Man in early May, went out like a lamb over Labor Day weekend with ticket sales down nearly 12 percent from last year. Nonetheless, there were strong holiday weekend ticket sales for two of the summer's big successes -- Signs and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Both pictures have performed very considerably better than insiders ever expected.
Signs, the summer's last mega-blockbuster to arrive, remained posted in first place with $15.8 million for four days. It is this summer's only film to place first for three weeks. Although no film did it consecutively, Signs was number one its opening weekend and then returned to the top spot in weekends four and five. With its cume now over $194 million and heading for $225 million,Signs ranks as Mel Gibson's biggest grossing film ever, eclipsing What Women Want with $182.5 million.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the summer's sleeper hit, added 290 engagements and soared to second place with $14.1 million. Made for only about $5 million, its cume is now $81.5 million and on its way to an enormously profitable $100 million.
XXX nailed down third place with $12.6 million. feardotcom logged on quietly in fourth place with $6.6 million. Austin Powers in Goldmember rounded out the top five with $6.5 million.
With no new openings to drive ticket sales, key films -- those grossing $500,000 or more -- fell 11.8 percent from last year with $100.1 million for four days versus $113.5 million last Labor Day weekend. This was the seventh consecutive weekend in which the marketplace was down compared to last year.
Hollywood was happy to see that Sunday's weather map showed rain up and down the East Coast as well as along the Gulf Coast and in parts of the mid-west. That could give Sunday ticket sales across the board a boost and help raise today's estimates a notch when they are fine tuned Monday.
THE TOP TEN
Today's grosses are for the four day holiday period from Friday through Monday and reflect industry estimates circulating Sunday morning. Studios will announce their four day estimates Monday and will release final figures Tuesday. Percentage comparisons are not indicated today because the prior weekend was a regular three day weekend.
Buena Vista/Touchstone's PG-13 rated supernatural thriller blockbuster Signs held solidly atop the chart in its fifth week with an ESTIMATED $15.8 million at 3,437 theaters (-16 theaters; $4,597 per theater). Its cume is approximately $194.2 million, heading for $225 million. (Its three day gross was an ESTIMATED $12.9 million.)
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, it stars Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix.
"By the way, the last movie to be number one in its fifth week was The Sixth Sense," a spokesperson for BV pointed out Sunday morning. Sixth Sense, of course, was also directed by Shyamalan.
"It's remarkable to think we finally have a picture this summer that was number one for three weeks," Buena Vista Distribution president Chuck Viane said Sunday morning. "Everything else seems to have had two weeks and then got bumped off. We only had one week (in first place) and then we came back and picked up two more. The legs of this picture really speak volumes for how much the public likes the movie.
"Yesterday (Saturday), the picture became Mel Gibson's highest grossing film ever. And we still have probably $30 million worth of gross left. What Women Want did (about) $182 million. That as Mel's biggest picture."
Focusing on Signs' success, Viane observed, "It's the movie. The movie is playing great and the audience is responding that way. There's not many pictures that come into a Labor Day weekend and actually go up in gross over the previous weekend and this is one of them."
IFC Films' release of Gold Circle Films and HBO's PG rated romantic comedy sleeper hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding continued to expand in its 20th week, rising two pegs to second place with an amazingly hot ESTIMATED $14.13 million at 1,619 theaters (+290 theaters; $8,727 per theater). Its cume is approximately $81.9 million, heading for $100 million or more in domestic theaters. (Its three day gross was an ESTIMATED $11.1 million.)
Wedding's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by Joel Zwick, it stars Nia Vardalos and John Corbett.