‘Zorro’ Makes Its Mark at the Box Office

“The Mask of Zorro’s” lethal weapon was only a sword, but it was enough for the old-fashioned adventure to carve a “Z” in first place at the box office over the weekend, with an estimated $22.7 million in tickets sales, extremely good for a movie without a superstar name attached.

The updating of the popular film and TV romantic adventure starring Antonio Banderas and Anthony Hopkins benefited from positive reviews and drew in as many couples as singles, according to the film’s producer, David Foster. “The romance was a major factor with date-night audiences,” he says.

But “Zorro’s” real strength, says Jeff Blake, distribution chief for Sony Pictures Entertainment, whose TriStar Pictures made the film, was its ability to reach men and women of all ages and, most encouragingly, teenagers at matinees. Playing successfully to several demographics enhances “Zorro’s” potential to gross $100 million. It opened on 2,515 screens, earning about $9,000 per theater.

The weekend’s other debut was the bad-taste comedy “There’s Something About Mary,” which built word of mouth by opening on Wednesday, ushering in a $13 million weekend on 2,187 screens, good enough for fourth place. Fox senior executive Tom Sherak says that the film opened well in big cities and by the weekend was also measuring well in moderate-sized towns. There were several factors against it in heartland and rural areas: an R-rating and no jet-propulsion box-office names.

By the end of the weekend though, says Sherak, the small towns were starting to get on board. “The film is catching up to itself,” he says, confident that its $17 million five-day total augurs well for “Mary’s” long-term prospects. The real test for the $25 million comedy will come this weekend with the debut of another offbeat comedy, “Mafia!,” and the provocative teen thriller “Disturbing Behavior.” “Zorro’s” main competition, however, will be Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan.”

“Zorro” and “Mary” ushered in the second half of the summer season in style, with the top 12 films grossing about $107 million, according to the industry tracking company Exhibitor Relations. That’s 11% better than the comparable weekend last year.

“Zorro” eked past “Lethal Weapon 4,” which dropped a predictable 38% to land in second place with about $21.2 million. The sequel has surpassed $70 million in just 10 days, making it a good bet to hit $100 million in about a week or so, the sixth film of the summer to reach that plateau.

Third place went to the still- ticking “Armageddon,” which is showing resilient firepower (only a 32% decline) for an estimated $16 million in its third weekend on 3,117 screens. It’s now approaching $130 million after just three weeks. Like all the other action films, it will be interesting to see how “Armageddon” fares against Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan.” The superstar director and his superstar lead, Tom Hanks, can open a movie with the best of them. Audience awareness for the harshly realistic World War II tale is already off the charts, according to DreamWorks’ competitors, and the fledgling studio is just initiating its heavy ad artillery barrage.

Among the family film titles, “Small Soldiers” took a 41% hit in its second weekend, declining to about $8.3 million in 2,613 theaters, which doesn’t bode well for its long-term prospects. After 10 days, however, the pint-sized adventure already has grossed $30 million. “Small Soldiers” are no match for talking animals, however. Eddie Murphy’s “Dr. Dolittle,” which was off only 32% in its fourth weekend, to $8.8 million, has grossed almost $105 million to date. Right behind “Soldiers” and “Dolittle” were “Mulan” and “Madeline.” Again, “Madeline” is no competition for Disney’s animated heroine. A second weekend decline for “Madeline” was an acceptable 33%, putting it at $4.3 million in 1,863 theaters and $15.3 million after 10 days. But it’s not showing the same stamina as “Mulan,” which took only five weeks to cross the $100 million threshold, with about $4.7 million this past weekend on 2,283 screens.

In ninth place, Jim Carrey’s “The Truman Show” is still drawing viewers, with about $2.2 million in 1,540 theaters and $120 million to date. Tenth place was a tie between “Six Days, Seven Nights” and “The X-Files,” both of which dipped substantially to $2 million. “Six Days” is at $67.4 million, while “X-Files” has collected about $78.2 million.

“Out of Sight” is almost out of sight, dropping another 50% to $1.9 million for the weekend and a modest $33.7 million in its first month. And just to prove you can’t keep a good ship down, “Titanic” began its discount engagements in 867 theaters and climbed past $1 million in its 31st weekend of release, topping $590 million in the process.

Finally, the tiny Stratosphere Entertainment opened a small Russian film, “The Thief,” on Friday in New York and Los Angeles and scooped up an impressive $29,500 in just two theaters over the weekend, proving that there are still quite a few people out there who can read subtitles.