‘Cop Land’ Outweighs Competition

OK, so he isn’t Rocky or Rambo, but a bulked-up Sylvester Stallone landed a knockout punch to the competition as Miramax Films’ “Cop Land” became No. 1 at the box office over the weekend. It beat out strong contenders still in release like “Air Force One” with Harrison Ford and “Conspiracy Theory” with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts.

Stallone, whose big-budget action films have had lackluster domestic box office in recent years, did fairly well when compared to the opening weekend of some of his other films. The $13.5-million weekend debut for “Cop Land” compares to $10 million for “Daylight,” $9.4 million for “Assassins,” $16.7 million for “Judge Dredd” and $14.3 million for “The Specialist.”

Meanwhile, Shaquille O’Neill may be a tower of strength on the basketball court, but his new film, “Steel,” from Warner Bros. performed like the Washington Generals against the Harlem Globetrotters. The film, which was released in 1,260 theaters, took in only $870,068 for a dismal per-screen average of $691. Fox Searchlight’s “The Full Monty,” while released on only six screens, took in $176,585 for a healthy per-screen average of $29,431.

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Cop Land” $13.5 2,233 1 (Miramax) $13.5 $6,050 2. “Air Force One” $12.35 2,981 4 (Sony/Columbia) $130.4 $4,143 3. “Conspiracy Theory” $12.30 2,806 2 (Warner Bros.) $40.7 $4,387 4. “Event Horizon” $9.5 2,311 1 (Paramount) $9.5 $4,116 5. “Spawn” $4.9 2,478 3 (New Line) $46.7 $2,012 6. “George of the Jungle” $4.8 2,431 5 (Disney) $84.6 $1,980 7. “Men in Black” $4.2 2,261 7 (Sony/Columbia) $225.3 $1,860 8. “Picture Perfect” $3.3 1,677 3 (Fox) $23.7 $1,981 9. “Contact” $2.9 1,451 6 (Warner Bros.) $88.6 $1,980 10. “How to Be a Player” $2.5 756 2 (Gramercy) $10.0 $3,344

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.