Moviegoers went to theaters in their usual numbers for a mid-September weekend, usually the worst time of the year for the box office anyway. Hardball, the new Keanu Reeves starrer from Warner Bros., was the top ticket seller as it debuted with $9.4 million. Another new film, Sony/Columbia’s The Glass House, opened in second place with $5.7 million. Last week’s top film, The Musketeer, dropped to third with $5.5 million.
Although analysts had predicted a huge drop-off in receipts, the box office was actually up 38 percent from last year. Analyst Andrew Lipman of investment bank ING Barings told Bloomberg news: “Over the intermediate and long term, the World Trade Center [attack] will be at worse neutral for movie attendance, possibly even a slight positive, as people will tend to stay closer to home and do things more local.”
The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Hardball, Paramount, $9,386,342, (New);
2. The Glass House, Sony, $5,738,448, (New);
3. The Musketeer, Universal, $5,471,960, 2 Wks. ($17,771,970);
4. Two Can Play That Game, Sony, $4,604,843, 2 Wks. ($13,813,963);
5. The Others, Miramax/Dimension, $4,574,678, 6 Wks. ($73,422,887);
6. Rush Hour 2, New Line, $4,092,375, 7 Wks. ($211,149,100);
7. Jeepers Creepers, MGM, $3,844,246, 3 Wks. ($29,665,575);
8. American Pie 2, Universal, $3,601,440, 6 Wks. ($135,928,054);
9. Rat Race, Paramount, $3,553,183, 5 Wks. ($47,689,781);
10. Rock Star, Warner Bros., $3,388,545, 2 Wks. ($11,045,383).
