With the remake of the blaxplotation classic SHAFT reigning at the U.S. box office, Foxs new animated feature TITAN A.E. and the wide 35mm release of FANTASIA/2000 felt the weight of Hollywood star power. Paramounts SHAFT, starring Samuel L. Jackson, became the big man at the box office with an opening weekend gross of US$21.71 million. The bad mother moved Buena Vistas GONE IN 60 SECONDS down to second. The Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie-vehicle, with primary visual effects by Asylum Visual Effects and Disneys Secret Lab, raced to another $14.9, bringing its total loot to $52.07 million. With Martin Lawrences BIG MOMMAS HOUSE holding on at #3, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2, with primary visual effects by Pacific Data Images, Double Negative Ltd. and CFC, slipped two spots to number four. The Tom Cruise-starrer racked up $11.36 million; raising its U.S. cume to $176.6, and putting it on pace to top the final cume of the original MISSION sometime this week. Despite great reviews, TITAN A.E by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman finished in a disappointing 5th place. The space spectacle made $9.38 million. Foxs last feature ANASTASIA opened with a gross of $14.1 million and its final cume was $58.4 million. DINOSAUR dropped to seventh grossing $5.86 million, raising its cume to $120.5 million. With its low-end price tag of $200 million, Disneys DINO might have to count on international box office receipts to see a profit. Slipping into the 8th slot, GLADIATOR, with primary visual effects by Mill Film Ltd., reportedly added another $5.36 million to its $159 million U.S. run. Finally, Disneys attempt at counter programming TITAN fell short with FANTASIA/2000 finishing in 11th place. The animated opera grossed an estimated $2.91 million, raising its total cume thus far to roughly $52.46 million. New Lines FREQUENCY fell from #8 to 13th place. The time-twisting tearjerker landed another $879,702, bringing its cume to $41.71 million. Sinking to the 14th spot, Universal's U-571 salvaged another $688,025 million, raising its cume to $74.15 million. THE FLINTSTONES VIVA ROCK VEGAS, with primary visual effects by Cinesite, slipped to #16 with a gross of $393,370, advancing its cume to $32.76 million. 20th Century Foxs WHERE THE HEART IS, with primary visual effects by Cinesite, finished at #18 with a gross of $329,996, raising its U.S. cume of $31.98 million. MISSION TO MARS, with primary special effects by ILM and Dream Quest Images, had a resurgence at U.S. theatres coming in at #19. With a box office receipt increase of 199%, the space spectacle landed $239,808, bringing its cume to $60.28 million. Other animated and special effects laden films finishing in the top fifty were: T-REX: BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS at #25, with a gross of $158,608 and a cume of $30.62 million; THE TIGGER MOVIE at #36, with a gross of $90,551 and a cume of $45.16 million; THE ROAD TO EL DORADO at #42, with a gross of $79,013 and a cume of $50.64 million; ALIEN ADVENTURE at #45, with a gross of $70,746 and a cume of $1.3 million; FINAL DESTINATION at #48, with a gross of $60,986 and a cume of $51.99 million; TOY STORY 2 at #49, with a gross of $60,433 and a cume of $245.5 million; and SNOW DAY at #50, with a gross of $59,588 and a cume of $59.85 million. Box office reports obtained in THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
