Headline: "Bug's Life" buoyant at box office, "Babe" bombs
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(New throughout, adds comments, byline)
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Led by a record-breaking
performance from "A Bug's Life," family films dominated the
Thanksgiving holiday box office, although the "Babe" sequel
flopped spectacularly.
In the studio stakes, a resurgent Walt Disney Co. released
not only "A Bug's Life," which pulled in an estimated $33.6
million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, but also "Enemy of the
State" and "The Waterboy," which ranked third and fourth,
respectively.
On the other hand troubled Universal Pictures, which has
not had a real hit in over a year, released both "Babe: Pig in
the City," which opened at No. 5 with $6.4 million, and the
fast-fading Brad Pitt romantic drama "Meet Joe Black," which
ranked at No. 6.
"It's definitely disappointing," Universal spokesman Alan
Sutton said of the $60 million talking pig sequel." "It
certainly didn't meet our expectations."
He said it was too early to tell why the Australian-made
movie failed, although negative pre-release publicity about
production delays and a dark storyline probably did not help,
nor did a crowded marketplace.
Universal, which is owned by Seagram Co. Ltd., is banking
on four holiday films to restore its fortunes: "Meet Joe
Black," the "Babe" sequel, a frame-by-frame remake of "Psycho,"
and the Robin Williams dramatic comedy "Patch Adams." In the
meantime, Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr fired the entertainment
giant's Chairman Frank Biondi two weeks ago, and insiders said
movie chief Casey Silver's job is on the line.
The top 10 contained two other under-performing new
releases: "Home Fries," a romantic comedy starring Drew
Barrymore, at No. 8; and "Ringmaster," a semi-fictional vehicle
for trash talk show king Jerry Springer, at No. 9.
According to Exhibitor Relations Co. the top 12 films
grossed a combined $120 million for the weekend, up 22.4
percent from the year-ago Thanksgiving. Three family films --
"A Bug's Life," "The Rugrats Movie" and the "Babe" sequel --
accounted for about half of that total.
The computer-animated insect comedy "A Bug's Life" has
grossed an estimated $46.5 million since its national roll-out
on Wednesday, according to Disney. In the process it beat the
Thanksgiving records held by the studio's own 1996 "101
Dalmatians" remake, which made $33.5 million for the three-day
portion and $45.1 million for the five days.
The movie, produced by Disney in conjunction with Richmond,
Calif.-based animation house Pixar Inc., follows on the heels
of rival studio DreamWorks' own insect cartoon "Antz," which
opened to $17.2 million in October and topped the box office
for two weeks.
"All good movies complement each other," said Chuck Viane,
senior vice-president at Disney's Buena Vista Pictures
distribution unit. "We expect we'll waltz on by that movie as
(Disney's) 'Armageddon' did with (Paramount/DreamWorks') 'Deep
Impact.'"
Viane said one-third of the audience for "A Bug's Life" was
aged 2-11, and the gender split for the remaining two-thirds
was about 50-50. The trailer and marketing campaign went to
great lengths to depict it as a film for all ages, he said.
Last weekend's champ "The Rugrats Movie," slipped to second
with $21.1 million for the three days and $27.6 million for the
five days, bringing its 10-day total to $58 million.
Disney's "Enemy of the State" and "The Waterboy" each
slipped a notch as well. "Enemy," an action thriller starring
Will Smith, clearly benefited from being a rare adult-oriented
movie in a family-dominated marketplace. It earned $18.0
million for the three days and $25.7 million for the five days,
bringing its 10-day total to $49.2 million.
"The Waterboy," a football comedy starring Adam Sandler,
earned $14.0 million for the three days and $19.9 million for
the five days, for a 24-day total of $122.6 million.
Since opening Wednesday, "Babe: Pig in the City," has
earned $8.5 million. The original Oscar-nominated hit had a
three-day opening of $8.7 million in August 1995, and went on
to earn $63.7 million in North America, according to
Universal's Sutton.
"Meet Joe Black" earned $5.8 million for the three days and
$8.1 million for the five days, bringing its 17-day total to
$35.8 million. The film reportedly cost more than $80 million
to make.
Elsewhere, Warner Bros' "Home Fries" earned $3.7 million
for the three days and $5.2 million for the five days. Barry
Reardon, president of distribution at Warner Bros., said the
studio had hoped for an $8.0 million opening, but he pointed
out that the film cost just $15 million to make.
"Ringmaster" earned $3.6 million for the three days and
$5.3 million for the five days, according to its distributor,
Artisan Entertainment.
Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc., released "The
Rugrats Movie" in conjunction with its Nickelodeon Films sister
company. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.
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Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service |
