An Animated Debut for ‘Anastasia’

The sound you hear this morning is a collective sigh of relief coming from executives at 20th Century Fox. Their first foray into the world of feature-length animation proved highly successful--though not of Disney proportions--as “Anastasia” took in $14.1 million on its first weekend in wide release.

The weekend’s big surprise, however, was “Mortal Kombat Annihilation,” which captured first place without the marketing blitz of “Anastasia.” Al Shapiro, president of domestic theatrical marketing at New Line Cinema, said exit polls showed the movie played well with audiences from ages 9 to the 30s.

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Mortal Kombat Annihilation” $16.8 2,140 1 (New Line) $16.8 $7,837 2. “Anastasia” $14.1 2,478 2 (Fox) $14.2 $5,692 3. “John Grisham’s The Rainmaker” $10.6 2,317 1 (Paramount) $10.6 $4,586 4. “The Jackal” $9.0 2,201 2 (Universal) $28.6 $4,100 5. “The Little Mermaid”* $5.7 2,057 2 (Disney) $18.0 $2,765 6.*”Midnight in the Garden ... “ $5.2 824 1 (Warner Bros.) $5.2 $6,352 7. “Starship Troopers” $4.7 2,822 3 (Sony/TriStar) $46.3 $1,668 8. “Bean”** $4.3 1,991 6 (Gramercy) $37.4 $2,154 9. “The Man Who Knew Too Little” $2.9 2,039 2 (Warner Bros.) $8.6 $1,441 10. “I Know What You Did Last Summer” $2.6 1,860 6 (Sony/Columbia) $63.8 $1,388 ** “The Sweet Hereafter” $73,547 5 1 (Fine Line) $73,547 $14,709

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* Reissue.

** Third week in the U.S.; sixth week in Canada.

* Fine Line’s “The Sweet Hereafter” opened with a healthy $73,547 in tickets sold on only five screens.

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.