Stern Proves to Be King of Weekend

Radio shock jock Howard Stern’s “Private Parts” took first place at the box office this weekend with an estimated $15.1 million, bumping Tim Allen’s “Jungle 2 Jungle” to second place with about $12.7 million. The results for the dueling comedians’ movies produced some amusing industry exchanges.

In a good-natured tweak at Paramount and Stern, Dick Cook, chairman of Disney’s Motion Picture Group, said: “Be sure to tell Howard we beat him on Saturday. We went up 88% in our results from Friday to Saturday, a phenomenal jump. We beat him by half a million in one day. All that hoopla and hype about his ‘Private Parts.’ . . . OK, OK so he won for the weekend but we still hold bragging rights on Saturday.” Others teased Paramount about the studio getting a reputation for making movies that play to the lowest common denominator. Remember “Beavis and Butt-Head Do America”--a hit Paramount film?

Wayne Lewellen, Paramount’s head of distribution, took the teasing well. “Yeah, well Howard’s fans came out on Friday,” he said. “We just gave them room to breathe on Saturday, so the non-fans [of Stern’s radio shows] could get the seats. Ask Dick if he really wants the mouse to take on Howard.” As for any perceived reputation: “What can I say? We offer what the market will bare.” And he meant “bare.”

Some competitors, who said they liked the movie, said they thought it would open even bigger because of Paramount’s strong publicity and marketing campaign.

“What most people don’t realize is that Howard’s [radio] show is only in 36 markets in this country,” said Robert Friedman, vice chairman of Paramount’s Motion Picture Group, who was a key player in spearheading the film’s campaign. The show isn’t carried in Seattle, Denver, Atlanta and many of the major cities in the South or Midwest.

“When you’re in L.A. and New York, you’re in the blue part of the flame of Howard Stern,” Friedman said. “Those of us who make projections live in Stern’s markets and it’s natural to think everyone knows Howard.” Still, Lewellen said he had hopes that word of mouth will pull in moviegoers even in places like Minnesota, “where a guy feeding the cows doesn’t have a clue or care about this guy.”

Educating the untapped is precisely what prompted Paramount to deliver such a huge TV marketing blitz, Friedman said. “We had to use TV to hit those markets where he wasn’t known. It’s like introducing a new star to the moviegoing universe.”

It was the kind of TV blitz for “Private Parts” that put fear into “Jungle 2 Jungle” producer Brian Reilly. Several weeks before its planned March 14 opening, Reilly learned that the movie’s nationwide release had been bumped up a week to go head-to-head with Stern. It had been changed after Fox moved “Return of the Jedi” to March 14, forcing Disney to scramble for a week earlier release on “Jungle.” Competing against “Jedi” would have been even worse since both films appeal to families. At least “Private Parts,” which is rated R, plays to adults, giving “Jungle” a better shot at capturing the family audience.

“This has been one high-anxiety week,” Reilly said. “I kept watching the Howard campaign get bigger and bigger but I realized there wasn’t a lot of choice. I knew we had two very different audiences, but that didn’t make it any easier. In the end, I knew we did the right thing. Otherwise we would have gone head-on with ‘Jedi.’ ”

Still, look for adjustments in the “Jungle” marketing campaign this week with ads playing to more adult audiences.

Reilly’s fears of going head-on against any of the Star Wars Special Edition trilogy were valid. “The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition,” which came in fourth over the weekend with an estimated $8 million, has already grossed an estimated $51.7 million in three weeks. That, combined with the worldwide box office when the 1980 movie was originally released, brings the total to $274.4 million. It also holds the record as the being the seventh-biggest box-office grosser of all time, right behind “Return of the Jedi.”

In other weekend box-office results: “Donnie Brasco” was third with an estimated $8.2 million; “Booty Call,” fifth with an estimated $4.25 million; “Star Wars: Special Edition,” sixth with about $4 million; “Absolute Power,” seventh with $3.7 million; “Dante’s Peak,” eighth with an estimated $3.3 million; “Vegas Vacation,” ninth with $2.41 million; and “Marvin’s Room,” 10th with about $2.36 million.

Final numbers will be released today.