HOLLYWOOD - It wasn't a glittering weekend for Hollywood as its only wide opening, Glitter, failed to make the Top Ten.The weekend's biggest success story was Warner Bros.' well attended sneak previews Friday and Saturday night of Castle Rock Entertainment's PG-13 rated drama Hearts in Atlantis, directed by Scott Hicks (Shine) and starring Anthony Hopkins.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington, several studios decided to pull films from this weekend's release schedule. Two movies that had loomed as strong box office contenders were suddenly seen as having inappropriate content--Warner Bros.' police corruption drama Training Day, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke; and Buena Vista/Touchstone's comedy Big Trouble, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Tim Allen and Rene Russo.
In the absence of any strong new arrivals, Paramount's PG-13 rated urban appeal drama-comedy Hardball easily held on to first place with an okay ESTIMATED $8.2 million (-13%) at 2,210 theaters (+73 theaters; $3,710 per theater). Its cume is approximately $19.4 million.
Hardball's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in over 500 theaters this weekend.
Directed by Brian Robbins, it stars Keanu Reeves.
"It held up very well," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning. "Obviously, we're very pleased with it. I think it's the kind of movie, a feel good movie, that [works well because] of everything that's going on right now. It's also a good movie. It plays very well to the audience."
Asked where it's heading, Lewellen replied, "Right now, with this strong a hold I think it's in the $40 million-plus range."
Ticket sales by key films--those grossing $500,000 or more for the weekend--were approximately $52.9 million, down only about 5.6 percent from the comparable weekend last year's total of $56.1 million. The relatively modest drop from last year suggests that moviegoing did not fall dramatically this weekend and that had there been stronger films entering the marketplace, ticket sales would most likely have been up from last year.