‘Best Man’ Shows Its Strength in a Weekend Tough on New Films

Taye Diggs found wedded bliss at the box office when “The Best Man” debuted as the weekend’s top movie with $9.1 million, according to industry estimates Sunday.

Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead” had a so-so opening weekend with $6.2 million for fourth place. “Crazy in Alabama,” directed by Antonio Banderas and starring wife Melanie Griffith, premiered dismally with $1 million to finish well out of the top 10.

“Bats,” about swarms of killer winged things on a rampage, opened in seventh place with $4.7 million. “Three to Tango,” a romantic comedy with Neve Campbell, Matthew Perry and Dylan McDermott, was eighth with $4.6 million.

It was a tough weekend for new movies, with earlier releases still competing strongly. “Double Jeopardy” remained the No. 2 movie, grossing $7.7 million in its fifth weekend, pushing its total take up to $91 million.

“ ‘Double Jeopardy’ is still siphoning off that mature audience so many of the fall films go after,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., which tracks movie ticket sales. “It’s making it tough for some of these newcomers to break in.”

Last weekend’s top film, “Fight Club,” fell to third place with $6.3 million. “The Story of Us” was No. 5 with $5.5 million and “American Beauty” placed sixth with $5.4 million.

In “The Best Man,” written and directed by Malcolm D. Lee, Diggs plays a writer who is best man at a friend’s wedding.