‘Island’ in Box-Office Paradise

There’s no revenge sweeter than a strong opening. Such is the case of New Line Cinema’s critically panned “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” which grabbed first place at the weekend movie box office, taking in about $9 million.

This third remake of H.G. Wells’ mad scientist story, starring Marlon Brando, narrowly beat Warner Bros.’ “Tin Cup,” which garnered an estimated $8.8 million in its second week. That film, starring Kevin Costner, slipped only 13% from its first week while other holdover films suffered bigger slides.

Although Paramount’s “A Very Brady Sequel” pulled up third with an estimated $7.4 million, the gross was about half of the original “Brady Bunch” film--$14.8 million--that opened Feb. 17 last year (President’s Day weekend). Unlike “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” the Brady sequel had practically universally positive reviews.

Also faring well over the weekend were two smaller, non-action films. Fox Searchlight’s romantic comedy “She’s the One,” the film debut for “Friends” TV star Jennifer Aniston, opened in 10th with about $2.2 million. But that film was only showing on 459 screens nationwide, while bigger films were playing on more than 2,000 screens.

Castle Rock’s “Spitfire Grill”--often compared to the sleeper hit “Fried Green Tomatoes”--opened on only 218 screens for about $160,000, a good showing for a quieter, emotional film in limited release. Those films, like Miramax’s “Emma,” are targeted to female audiences but have crossover appeal. Also like Miramax, Castle Rock and Fox Searchlight began showing their films in limited release and will open wider each week.

“Emma,” now in its fourth week, was in eighth place with about $2.5 million. Triumph’s actioner “Solo,” starring Mario Van Peebles, opened in ninth. The Sony Pictures release grossed about $2.3 million.

Still in the top 10 were: Warners’ “A Time to Kill,” in fourth with about $6.2 million for a total of $82.5 million in five weeks; Hollywood Pictures’ “Jack,” fifth, grossed about $5.9 million for about $37.6 million in three weeks; 20th Century Fox’s blockbuster hit “Independence Day,” sixth, with $4.9 million and an eight-week total of $274.6 million; and TriStar’s “The Fan,” seventh, with about $3.5 million.