New Arrivals Take Back Seat to ‘Nature,’ Oscar Winners

It was the best of times for last week’s Oscar winners, “Shakespeare in Love” and “Life Is Beautiful,” and the worst of times for this weekend’s new arrivals, “EDtv,” “The Mod Squad” and “Doug’s 1st Movie.”

Last weekend’s top film, the romantic comedy “Forces of Nature,” starring Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock, held on to its No. 1 position with an estimated $9.6 million, in what looks to be the first weekend in almost six months that hasn’t produced at least one film grossing more than $10 million. “Forces” had a more than acceptable decline of 29% from its opening weekend and has made a solid $27 million in its first 10 days, demonstrating that if you have the right romantic combination, the genre still packs ‘em in at the box office.

There was a contentious battle for second place with Warner Bros. reporting “Analyze This” at a projected $8.8 million in its fourth weekend on 2,537 screens. That brings the hit comedy up to almost $70 million in its first month. At this pace, “Analyze” should be the biggest grossing release of 1999 so far and come within shouting distance of $100 million.

But Universal Pictures counters that Ron Howard’s new comedy, “EDtv,” is actually No. 2 with $9 million in 2,627 theaters. Regardless, the debut of the heavily promoted comedy has to be seen as a disappointment. Even generally good reviews did not shake the perception that the amiable “ED” is “The Truman Show” all over again. And Universal’s marketing did not make sufficient hay of the film’s blithe romantic comedy elements. Only word of mouth can save it now. According to distribution head Nikki Rocco, exit polls are very strong, most surprisingly among those under 18, which bodes well for the upcoming spring break.

The similarly hapless MGM got nowhere with its updated film version of the popular ‘60s TV action series, “The Mod Squad.” The film proved to be as anachronistic as its title, managing a paltry $6.1 million in 2,290 houses. After Friday night’s wan opening, receipts barely increased on Saturday, meaning that only the core teen demographic was in attendance. And MGM confirms that 78% of the audience was under 30 and half of all paid admissions were from teenagers.

Disney’s very inexpensive “Doug’s 1st Movie” did a lackluster $4.4 million in its first weekend in 2,268 theaters, but should rack up some coin during the upcoming holiday week.

The only good news was that Oscar glory brought some pizazz to the winners. The surprise best picture, “Shakespeare in Love,” jumped 43% and tied for fifth place with an estimated $4.4 million on 1,931 screens, bringing the grand total after 14 weeks to almost $80 million.

Even more encouraging was the eighth-place showing for three-time Oscar winner “Life Is Beautiful,” with $3.2 million, the Italian film’s highest ranking to date. Now playing on 1,121 screens, more than any foreign film ever, “Life” just passed the $40 million mark.

“Saving Private Ryan” which won five Oscars, including best director for Steven Spielberg, climbed back over the $1 million mark over the weekend on 655 screens and increased its 1998-leading total to $212 million.

The unseasonably chilly box office results for the first weekend of spring found the top 12 films grossing an estimated $57.6 million, according to Exhibitor Relations Inc., the weakest weekend in several months and more than 18% behind last year’s leaders. Despite successes such as “Payback,” “She’s All That” and “Analyze This,” 1999 has been a disappointing year so far.

The rest of the top 10 was dismal indeed. Clint Eastwood’s “True Crime” is a true dud with only $3.3 million in its second weekend on 1,852 screens and a pallid $10.4 million in its first 10 days. The mini-surprise “Baby Geniuses” talked its way to another $2.7 million over the weekend for a moderately good total to date of just over $15 million. And, finally, “Cruel Intentions” is running out of bile, dropping to $2.3 million in its fourth weekend for a still good $33.5 million to date.