Helped by a Head Start, ‘Sunday’ Wins

“Any Given Sunday” won the weekend box-office race with $13.6 million in ticket sales over three days, but “The Talented Mr. Ripley” appeared to have the stronger opening, grossing $12.7 million over only two days, since it was released on Saturday, Christmas Day, and had one less day of figures to report.

“Man on the Moon,” which opened Wednesday, made $7.5 million over its first five days, while “Galaxy Quest,” which opened Saturday, took in $7 million.

The overall weekend box office was down about 40% from last year, largely a result of Christmas Eve falling on Friday.

“There were so many films out there pulling the adult audience in so many directions,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. “As a result, the box-office pie had to be split in so many pieces.” --ROBERT W. WELKOS

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Any Given Sunday”* $13.6 2,505 1 (Warner Bros.) $20.6 $5,423 2. “The Talented Mr. Ripley”** $12.7 2,307 1 (Paramount) $12.7 $5,522 3. “Stuart Little” $11.8 2,900 2 (Sony/Columbia) $39.5 $4,075 4. “Toy Story 2” $10.4 3,185 6 (Disney/Pixar) $177.5 $3,258 5. “The Green Mile” $9.3 2,875 3 (Warner Bros.) $53.1 $3,222 6. “Man on the Moon”* $7.5 2,079 1 (Universal) $12.3 $3,615 7. “Galaxy Quest”** $7.0 2,412 1 (DreamWorks) $7.0 $2,907 8. “Bicentennial Man” $6.8 2,767 2 (Disney/Touchstone) $21.0 $2,451 9. “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” $5.2 2,162 3 (Disney/Touchstone) $34.4 $2,410 10. “Anna and the King” $4.5 2,132 2 (Fox) $13.2 $2,096 “Girl, Interrupted”*** $95,399 9 1 (Sony/Columbia) $183,230 $10,600 “Angela’s Ashes”** $54,628 6 1 (Paramount) $54,628 $9,105 “Snow Falling on Cedars”* $32,135 3 1 (Universal) $51,175 $10,712 “Titus”** $22,313 2 1 (Fox Searchlight) $22,313 $11,157 “Play It to the Bone”** $3,366 1 1 (Disney/Touchstone) $3,366 $3,366

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*Opened Wednesday

**Opened Saturday

***Opened Tuesday