Closing the Year With a Bang

The transition from 1998 to 1999 provided the biggest week in box-office history, with more than $280 million racked up and almost $150 million of that coming Dec. 25-27 (a three-day best), according to early estimates. Virtually every day of that seven-day period surpassed 1997’s previous record take, as new releases such as “Patch Adams,” “Stepmom,” “You’ve Got Mail” and “The Prince of Egypt,” along with continuing hits like “A Bug’s Life,” “The Waterboy” and “Enemy of the State,” brought in a large and varied audience. Of those seven top-grossing year-end films, two already have grossed more than $100 million and “Enemy of the State” is just about there.

Grand totals for 1998, depending on the source, are estimated at either $6.84 billion (Variety) or $6.94 billion (Exhibitor Relations). Even splitting the difference, dollar figures were up about 10% from the previous year and ticket sales increased by 5% to 1.38 billion admissions, the best attendance figure since the mid-1960s.

The first weekend of the new year, however, was plagued by winter blizzards in the Midwest, and Saturday grosses plummeted after a great New Year’s Day. One industry source calculates that the bad weather could have cost as much as $20 million in admissions over what is traditionally one of the two or three strongest filmgoing weekends of the year. Still, grosses for the top 12 films were down less than 1% from the previous year, a very strong $106 million, Exhibitor Relations reported.

Maintaining an unassailable hold on the No. 1 spot was “Patch Adams,” which has grossed almost $67 million in only 10 days of release, an estimated $20.1 million of that over the past weekend on 2,752 screens.

“Stepmom” and “You’ve Got Mail” battled for second place. “Stepmom,” drawing in women of all ages, grossed a projected $15 million over the weekend on 2,358 screens, for an impressive total of just more than $50 million in less than two weeks.

“You’ve Got Mail,” in its third weekend, brought in a potent $14.1 million on 2,776 screens, lifting its 17-day total to almost $78 million. “Mail” should skip across the $100-million mark and may end up in the same ballpark as the earlier Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan hit romance (no, not “Joe Versus the Volcano,” but rather 1993’s “Sleepless in Seattle,” which grossed about $125 million).

The stars among exclusive runs continue to be “The Thin Red Line” and “A Civil Action.” “Thin” was anything but that, grossing an estimated $376,326 on seven screens in its second weekend, almost $54,000 per screen, for just over $1 million in two weeks. It goes wider in Los Angeles and New York next weekend, then broadens to about 10 major cities in exclusive runs. “A Civil Action,” which breaks across the country this weekend, grossed another $65,000 on just two screens in New York and Los Angeles for $220,000 in its first 10 days.

“The Prince of Egypt” may not be drawing in as many kids at matinees, but adults have taken to the animated epic in a big way, bringing in another $11.5 million over the New Year’s weekend on 3,202 screens, for a three-week total of almost $67 million. “Prince” is being closely watched by the industry to see how it will hold now that the holiday period is over.

The holidays were very good for animated flicks. The seventh weekend for “The Rugrats Movie” was still strong enough to bring in $2.8 million (up 5% from Christmas) and almost $90 million so far. The champ, however, is “A Bug’s Life,” which now has grossed about $138 million after only six weeks in release, about $10 million of that in the new year on its current 2,551 screens. “Bug’s” looks to surpass Disney’s own “The Waterboy” as the year-end champion. The Sandler comedy just crossed $150 million, thanks to an estimated $2.3 million over the weekend on 1,242 screens.

“Mighty Joe Young” doesn’t appear likely to be a long-term player since most of its audience is headed back to school. With $8.7 million in its second weekend and fairly good midweek business, “Joe” has collected almost $29 million in 10 days on 2,544 screens. But considering its cost (a reported $85 million), that’s nothing to brag about. “The Faculty” has also been somewhat of a disappointment, though at least it was fairly inexpensive. The teen core audience seemed to be just as happy to see “Patch Adams” and “You’ve Got Mail.” Second-weekend numbers for “The Faculty” were down to an estimated $8 million or less, indicating that it is playing like a horror movie on its 2,365 screens. Total to date is $26.4 million--good, but not great.

Of the remaining movies in the top 10, only “Enemy of the State” is showing any real staying power, bringing in a strong $5 million in only 1,539 theaters on its seventh weekend. That puts “Enemy” at $97 million, meaning it will become Disney’s fifth 1998 release to cross the $100-million mark.

“Star Trek: Insurrection” is not showing much enterprise after four weeks, down 34% from last weekend to an estimated $4.8 million on 2,516 screens, for a grand total hovering in the $60-million neighborhood.

In 10th place was “Jack Frost,” still benefiting from the holiday season to gross an estimated $3.2 million on 2,135 screens over its fourth weekend, for a moderately warm $31 million to date.

Among specialized films, “Shakespeare in Love” and “Waking Ned Devine” both sustained Christmas weekend levels. “Shakespeare” was actually up more than 20%; now on 299 screens, the film took in about $3.2 million (more than $10,000 per theater), placing it in a virtual tie with “Jack Frost,” which is on more than 2,000 screens. “Shakespeare” has wooed $9.4 million so far. “Ned” was wide awake with $1.6 million on 259 screens for $7 million to date before going even wider this weekend.

The warmhearted “Down in the Delta” held onto $1.2 million in 416 theaters and has brought almost $4 million in just two weeks. “Life Is Beautiful” also added another $1.2 million on 225 screens and has now grossed $11.5 million. Not to be overshadowed, the long-running “Elizabeth” took in another $1 million over the weekend and is now at $16.5 million.

“A Simple Plan” is hanging in there with an estimated $510,000 on 80 screens for $2.5 million to date. “Hurlyburly” actually improved slightly in its second weekend, taking in $176,280 on 16 screens for a two-week total of almost $500,000. But “The Theory of Flight” went nowhere, with $16,000 on six screens and less than $50,000 to date.

Of the debuts, results were mixed. The one-week exclusive L.A. run of the ensemble drama “Playing by Heart” captured a hearty $38,000 in five days ($28,000 over the weekend). It returns to play wide on Jan. 22. “The Hi-Lo Country” was a lone prairie dog with $19,000 on three screens and $25,000 in its first five days.

Outta Sight

* “Out of Sight” grabbed three of the top National Society of Film Critics honors on Sunday. F2