‘The Cell’ Gets a Lock on the Weekend

“The Cell,” a new psychological thriller starring Jennifer Lopez, grabbed the No. 1 spot at the North American weekend box office, while Spike Lee’s concert film “The Original Kings of Comedy” opened at No. 2, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

“The Cell” (New Line) grossed $17.2 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, and “Kings of Comedy” (Paramount) reaped $11.7 million. The weekend’s other new wide release, the low-budget Japanese import “Godzilla 2000” (Columbia), opened at No. 11 with $4.6 million.

Columbia’s invisible-man thriller, “Hollow Man,” which had ruled the box office for the previous two weekends, fell to No. 7 with $6.1 million, taking its 17-day total to $61.7 million.

Overall, ticket sales slid for the fourth consecutive weekend. Box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. reported the top 12 films grossed $88.7 million, down 8.2% from last weekend and down 35.5% from a year ago, when “The Sixth Sense” topped the charts for the third weekend.

With just two weekends left, summer 2000 likely will come in about $200 million below last year’s record $3 billion in revenues.

“It’s a foregone conclusion that the summer record is not going to be broken,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. “Last year was an anomaly and impossible to beat.”

“The Cell” played mostly to moviegoers under 35, and equally to men and women, said David Tuckerman, president of distribution at Time Warner Inc.-owned New Line. Reviews were mixed, but he said audiences were drawn by the film’s inventive story line and stunning visuals.

Lopez plays a scientist who literally gets inside the brain of a serial killer (Vincent D’Onofrio) via an experimental neurological technique. It marked the feature directing debut of Tarsem Singh, a music video and commercials director. He is perhaps best known for shooting the R.E.M. video “Losing My Religion.”

As a footnote, “The Cell” marks the fifth consecutive No. 1 film starring a scientist or professor. “Hollow Man” was preceded by “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,” “What Lies Beneath” and “X-Men.”

Playing in just 847 cinemas, “The Original Kings of Comedy” posted an impressive $13,813 per-theater average, compared with $7,134 at 2,411 locations for “The Cell.”

Lee shot two performances in Charlotte, N.C., of the comedy tour starring Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer and Bernie Mac. Such concert films normally are niche releases, but distributor Paramount decided to open it wider after it proved a hit with test audiences, said Wayne Lewellen, head of distribution. The weekend crowds were about 80% black, he said.

Though “Godzilla 2000” finished out of the top 10, it was a cheap release for distributor Sony, which probably will turn a small profit once it plays out in theaters and on video.

The studio’s cost to acquire U.S. rights, reedit the movie and dub it into English are estimated at less than $1 million. Sony spent a modest $10 million to $12 million on prints and advertising.

“Godzilla 2000” is expected to gross $15 million to $20 million in theaters, said Ed Russell, Sony executive president for publicity.

Rounding out the top five were the Warner Bros. pair of “Space Cowboys” at No. 3 with $9.9 million, and “The Replacements” at No. 4 with $7.5 million, and DreamWorks’ “What Lies Beneath” at No. 5 with $7.1 million.

After 17 days, “Space Cowboys” has grossed $54.2 million; “The Replacements,” $23.7 million after 10 days; and “What Lies Beneath,” $123.7 million after 31 days.

Universal’s sixth-ranked “Nutty Professor” sequel passed the $100-million mark on Friday, with its $6.4-million weekend taking the total to $104.4 million.

DreamWorks’ “Chicken Run” also passed the century mark last Monday, and its $101.9-million haul takes it past “The Prince of Egypt” ($101.2 million) to rank as the studio’s best-performing animated feature.