‘Titanic’ Rules; ‘Scream 2’ Is Adjusted

It’s still too early to say whether one of the great gambles in Hollywood history will ever be profitable, but the $28.6-million opening weekend box office for “Titanic” was good news to Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, which jointly financed the $200-million movie.

“Tomorrow Never Dies” finished in second place during its American debut. MGM/UA officials said their latest James Bond thriller has already racked up $61 million worldwide--it opened 10 days ago in the United Kingdom, and in other overseas territories Friday.

Meanwhile, the industry was still buzzing Monday over the startling disclosure late Friday by Miramax/Dimension Films that the studio, a unit of the Walt Disney Co., had overstated the opening weekend box office for “Scream 2” by $6 million. Miramax said the film actually grossed $33 million--not $39.2 million--as the studio initially reported. The studio blamed a last-minute, overwhelming demand for the film by theater owners, which led them to count 449 theaters that actually never showed it.

In the race to be No. 1 at the box office, studios have often been accused of inflating their figures. The controversy over “Scream 2” prompted one rival studio official to remark: “It’s a disgrace. It gives everybody a bad name.”

Weekend Box Office

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Titanic” $28.6 2,674 1 (Paramount/Fox) $28.6 $10,710 2. “Tomorrow Never Dies” $25.1 2,807 1 (MGM/UA) $25.1 $8,957 3. “Scream 2” $13.9 2,638 2 (Miramax/Dimension) $55.1 $5,277 4. “Mouse Hunt” $6.1 2,152 1 (DreamWorks) $6.1 $2,817 5. “Flubber” $4.3 2,612 4 (Disney) $64.3 $1,638 6. “Home Alone 3” $3.5 2,261 2 (Fox) $9.4 $1,535 7. “For Richer or Poorer” $3.4 1,925 2 (Universal) $10.9 $1,745 8. “Amistad” $3.3 480 2 (DreamWorks) $9.7 $6,834 9. “Anastasia” $1.7 1,873 6 (Fox) $44.4 $889 10. “John Grisham’s The Rainmaker” $1.4 1,492 5 (Paramount) $41.6 $949

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co