Lopez Movie Bucks Bowl
Moviegoers liked Jennifer Lopez as The Wedding Planner, making the romantic comedy No. 1 at the box office, as studios challenged Sunday's Super Bowl, drawing more filmgoers this year than last.
Despite the allure of football's main event, studios reported a strong showing over the weekend, grossing an estimated $76 million, an increase of 73 percent over last year's take during the weekend of the U.S. football championship, the Super Bowl, an industry analyst said.
Moviegoers also may have crowded theaters earlier, leaving Sunday free for football, said Linda Ditrinco, senior vice president of USA Films national sales.
"We kind of analyzed it internally, we noticed Friday and Saturday make up for the Sunday drops. People are still going to the movies," Ditrinco said.
According to Hollywood.com, The Wedding Planner had the highest per-theater average for any film playing in over 1,000 theaters last weekend.
"Great news for us this weekend," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing & distribution president Jeff Blake told Hollywood.com Sunday morning, noting that Sony had four of the top ten films (Planner, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Finding Forrester and Snatch).
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Blake noted that the audience was evenly divided between theater-goers less than 25 and older than 25.
"Clearly a large part of the under-25 crowd was driven by Jennifer Lopez, who couldn't be hotter right now with both her album and now her No. 1 movie," he said. "I think, certainly, the attraction of the over-25 crowd was that this is also a very romantic movie and Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey make a very romantic couple. I think that will be a key as we go forward into February. I think we look like the romantic choice for the next couple of weeks through Valentine's Day."
"Last year was a lot weaker than this year. The lineup of women's films in the marketplace serving as counter-programming to the Super Bowl was really effective," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
The Wedding Planner, starring Lopez — always a planner, never a bride — who falls for a groom-to-be, took in $14 million its debut weekend.
The film bounced Save the Last Dance to No. 2 from the top spot, which the hip-hop feature had held since its debut two weeks ago.
A Columbia Pictures spokesman said The Wedding Planner drew large numbers of women.
"The Super Bowl is obviously a dynamic in the marketplace, but this film has a very strong appeal to women, both over and under 25. It gives them an alternative," said Blaise Noto, Columbia's executive vice president of publicity.
Bank-robbing cheerleaders film Sugar & Spice debuted in the fifth spot. It opened with an estimated $6.02 million or $2,802 per screen.
Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks as a modern Robinson Crusoe, slipped to third from second place, but stayed strong as it raked in $8.93 million for the weekend. So far, Cast Away has made $194 million.
"Right now it's on a path to $215 million. Then with Academy Awards, though you can't tell what it will do, it could pop," predicted Richard Myerson, executive vice president and general sales manager for Twentieth Century Fox.
USA Films' drug-war drama Traffic pulled in $6.48 million, slipping one spot to No. 4. The film has gained $56.3 million since wide release earlier this month.
Martial arts film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, continued to climb, moving to No. 6 from eighth. The film took in $5.07 million or $5,846 per screen.
Ticket sales were estimated for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
The figures:
1. The Wedding Planner, $14 million
2. Save the Last Dance, $10 million
3. Cast Away, $8.93 million
4. Traffic, $6.48 million
5. Sugar & Spice, $6.02 million
6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, $5.07 million
7. (tie) Snatch, $4.8 million
7. (tie) Finding Forrester, $4.8 million
9. What Women Want, $4.3 million
10. Miss Congeniality, $3.96 million
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