The Force Is Also Kind to ‘Notting Hill’

While a certain sci-fi film continued to rule the box-office galaxy over the lucrative Memorial Day weekend, a smaller film proved that there are other forms of life on planet Hollywood.

“Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace” smashed another record over the four-day holiday, surpassing the $200-million level on Monday after only 13 days in release, a full eight days ahead of “Independence Day,” which got there after 21 days.

“Phantom Menace” started off the weekend by becoming the highest-grossing film of 1999, a position it’s unlikely to relinquish. The four-day holiday added an estimated $64.8 million in 3,023 sites--almost dead even with the three-day opening weekend--atop the already bountiful $140 million the film had amassed in its first nine days of release.

But showing that counter-programming works even against a mega-blockbuster, Universal decided to move up the release date of the Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant romantic comedy, “Notting Hill.” It proved to be a wise decision. The well-reviewed comedy brought in anti- and pro-”Phantom Menace” audiences alike, particularly the female and date night segment, for a sensational estimated holiday debut of $27.8 million in 2,747 theaters. It’s the $20-million-per-film actress’ best debut to date (topping “My Best Friend’s Wedding”) and more than justifying her paycheck parity with Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson and Jim Carrey.

What’s more, “Notting Hill’s” $22.2 million in its first three days beats the record for any romantic comedy, taking the title away from “The Wedding Singer.” Given the absence of date night-worthy movies for the next few weeks, “Notting Hill” is likely to enter Roberts’ $100-million-plus category alongside such hits as “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “Pretty Woman.” And Universal has almost two months of playing time before Roberts returns to romance in late July with “Runaway Bride,” reuniting her with “Pretty Woman” co-star Richard Gere.

But the big story continues to be the performance of “Phantom Menace.” Particularly strong were its Saturday through Monday matinees, which were scarcely down at all from the first weekend, indicating the film will be replenishing itself as schools begin to empty out this week in some parts of the country.

As for the Sturm und Drang of “Phantom Menace” not topping the opening-weekend record of “The Lost World,” the consolation prize is that with $205 million in 13 days, “Phantom Menace” will surpass “Lost World’s” $229 million total gross by the end of next weekend. And look for the $300-million peak to be surmounted in about three weeks or so.

Despite “Phantom Menace,” there was clearly room for yet another major release this weekend. Unfortunately, the sci-fi thriller “The Thirteenth Floor” wasn’t that movie. The film’s reviews were not good enough to overcome its low, no-star profile. Debuting on 1,815 screens, “Floor” garnered only $4.3 million and looks likely to vacate theaters before long. (Disney’s “Instinct,” which had 70% capacity previews Saturday night in 1,100 sites and skewed overwhelmingly older, might have been a better choice for the holiday weekend. Starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Anthony Hopkins, it opens Friday in about 2,100 theaters.)

Benefiting from only two new major films in theaters, there was plenty of business left over for the older titles. To prove that when it rains it pours, the once could-do-no-right Universal Pictures not only had the good fortune to pick up “Notting Hill” in its purchase of Polygram Films, but also to release “The Mummy” at just the right time as well. The picaresque “Mummy” has been holding its own very well against “Phantom Menace,” taking advantage of the holiday crowds and dropping off only slightly in its fourth weekend to gross an estimated $12.7 million, bringing its month-long total to $117 million. “Mummy” is on track to reach about $140 million, outpacing Universal’s recent best effort, “Patch Adams.”

The older-skewing “Entrapment,” starring Sean Connery, has also remained fairly steady over its five weeks of release, the latest weekend bringing in an estimated $6.25 million over the four days as it nears $70 million, with a total of $75 million to $80 million now clearly in sight.

Winding down its long run, “The Matrix” (now the year’s second best grossing film) also got a boost from the holidays, pulling in another $3.1 million for a total of $154 million over the past nine weeks.

Totals for the four-day Memorial Day weekend were slightly ahead of last year’s holiday, which arrived a week early, with the top 12 films reaping more than $125 million.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is quietly fading with third-weekend totals at only about $2 million, for a grand total of about $11.3 million, a valiant but fruitless attempt to break this star-studded Shakespearean effort on a national level without first building word of mouth in major cities.

But Drew Barrymore’s “Never Been Kissed” is still vital after two months in release, adding another $2 million over the weekend as it nears $50 million to date. And Eddie Murphy’s “Life” got a new burst of energy, taking in an estimated $1.4 million over the weekend for just under $60 million to date. The 10th-place winner was the satirical “Election,” which brought in $1.37 million for the four days, bringing its total to $11 million. “The Love Letter” with Kate Capshaw and Tom Selleck, was returned unopened in its second weekend, falling out of the Top 10 and plunging to $1.3 million in four days and only $5 million to date.

Among the specialized films, Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Besieged” took in $155,000 on 44 screens in its second weekend for a total so far of $376,000. And Mike Figgis’ provocative “The Loss of Sexual Innocence” claimed $50,599 in its first four days on five screens.