Teen Romp ‘American Pie’ Lands as Flavor of the Week

“American Pie” landed one right in the face of “Wild Wild West” over the weekend as the summer of one-week No. 1 wonders continues.

The R-rated, low-budget raunchy teen comedy sated its core audience, which was good enough to bring in $18.1 million on 2,507 screens--or well above what the film cost (less than $11 million). “Pie” even managed to snare some adults (23% of the audience) enticed by the generally good reviews, which augurs well for Universal’s third hit of the summer. The studio reports that exit polls are very strong, which could lead to a solid, repeat-business pattern.

“Pie’s” slice of the box office was large enough for it to surpass “Wild Wild West” which, after a promising but not supercharged opening weekend, lost about 40% of its business on 3,342 screens to about $16.7 million--good enough to lift the big-budget spoof above $75 million, although its long-term prospects appear to be shaky.

The weekend’s only other debut was the psychological thriller “Arlington Road,” starring Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins, which despite good reviews managed only $7.4 million in 1,631 theaters. Like “Summer of Sam,” which fell to 10th place in its second weekend, with $3.4 million in 1,536 theaters and $14 million after two weeks, the timing of this intense drama may have been off in a summer largely awash in laughs.

If “American Pie” proved that budget size doesn’t matter, especially when it comes to comedy, “Big Daddy” reinforces it. The modestly budgeted Adam Sandler comedy reached $100 million in its 14th day of release, and its third weekend recovered from the sharp second-weekend falloff (third weekend being down just 19%), bringing in an estimated $16.3 million in 3,254 theaters for a three-weekend total of almost $117 million. “Big Daddy” should end up in the same neighborhood as “The Waterboy’s” $160 million before it’s through.

Fourth place found “Tarzan” still swinging from the rafters, particularly with weekend matinee audiences. In 3,131 locations, the Disney animated hit took in $11.3 million in its fourth weekend, less than 20% off the holiday weekend pace, bringing its monthlong total to almost $130 million. Unless there is an outsize hit between now and Labor Day, “Tarzan” may wind up in third place for the season behind “Star Wars” and “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

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Significantly, however, this is the first weekend since late April in which there has not been a movie grossing more than $20 million, taking the grand total for the top 12 films only as high as $108 million, about 7% below the comparable weekend last year, which saw the $34-million debut of “Lethal Weapon 4.” But fresh forces are on their way, led by “Muppets From Space” and Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the late Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” as well as a crocodile-in-a-pond movie “Lake Placid,” the potential sleeper “The Blair Witch Project” and the low-budget youth drama “The Wood.”

“The General’s Daughter” is still in the top five after four weeks and is quietly accumulating an impressive total, with an estimated $8.1 million for the weekend on 2,710 screens for the suspense drama. After a month, the film is at almost $80 million and looks to go all the way to $100 million unless it winds up mortally wounded by “Eyes Wide Shut” next weekend.

In its second weekend, “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” withstood the arrival of “American Pie,” dropping approximately 37% to an estimated $7.1 million in 2,128 theaters, bringing it to around $35 million in two weeks.

However, “Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace” is completely unstoppable. The core audience of kids just keeps coming back again and again. The eighth weekend brought in another $7.4 million in 2,447 theaters, only 22% down from last weekend. George Lucas’ two-month take is an astounding $385 million.

“Austin Powers,” now on 2,608 screens after five weeks, sold an additional $6.5 million in tickets and is now up to $182 million as it inches its way to $200 million.

Meanwhile, though it dropped out of the top 10 this weekend, “Notting Hill” topped $100 million on Thursday, making it the sixth summer release to do so. And the period drama “An Ideal Husband” seems to be the ideal alternative fare for summer. Now in 772 theaters, it grossed $2.2 million for the weekend, bringing its total up to $9 million to date.