Lil’ ‘Nicky’ Is Bedeviled by ‘Angels’

That little devil Adam Sandler couldn’t quite get on the side of the angels with his new comedy, “Little Nicky.” The comic’s first big-budget movie was a surprising--perhaps even shocking--runner-up in its debut, failing to overcome the second weekend of “Charlie’s Angels.”

“Nicky’s” box office projection is $18 million, while “Angels” grossed $25.4 million, coming off its $40.1 million debut. And competing studios claim New Line’s estimate is at least $1 million too high for “Nicky.” Regardless, that’s less than half the opening weekend business of Sandler’s last two outings, “The Waterboy” and “Big Daddy.”

However, “Nicky” brought in the comic’s same core audience (ages 12 to 22) and a smattering of date-night business as well, according to New Line distribution chief David Tuckerman. And they liked it on the way out (of 2,910 theaters), he says, which could mean repeat business through Thanksgiving weekend. But like most films with only one demographic, “Nicky’s” upside could be limited, and with Jim Carrey’s highly anticipated “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” due next weekend, the loyalty of Sandler’s devotees will be tested.

“Charlie’s Angels” is likely to be Sony’s highest-grossing film since “Big Daddy,” taking a less-than-expected second weekend hit of about 38% (on 3,037 screens). “Angels” has now soared past $75 million in its first 10 days heading into the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday period. It should see $100 million before the turkey is carved.

The racial military drama “Men of Honor,” starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Robert De Niro, started in third place, doing better than expected with an estimated $14 million (on 2,090 screens). Because it appeals to a largely older audience, which doesn’t rush out to the movies, it appeared that “Men” might take a week or so to find its niche. But according to 20th Century Fox distribution head Bruce Snyder, “Men” brought out both older males and females as well as some young urban males. With such a strong start--on a per-screen basis it did much better than any film in the top 10, $6,700 per theater, except for “Angels”--”Men” could be a solid mid-range performer.

The weekend’s third new film, “Red Planet,” suffered from bad reviews and a sense of Martian deja vu (“Mission to Mars” landed just a few months ago), which further hampered its arrival. With a three-day estimate of around $9 million (on 2,703 screens), “Planet” looks to be a troubled mission since another sci-fi action flick, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “The Sixth Day,” arrives Friday.

Even with three major releases over the weekend, Universal’s “Meet the Parents” and Disney’s “Remember the Titans” continue to build into bigger blockbusters than either studio predicted. The fourth-place “Parents” was right behind “Men of Honor” with an estimated $10.6 million in its sixth weekend. “Parents” now has amassed an amazing $130 million, and should fly by $150 million without breaking a sweat.

“Titans,” starring Denzel Washington, is in seventh place with about $5.5 million expected in its seventh weekend (down 21%), comfortably reaching $104 million to date. It’s headed to at least $115 million.

“The Legend of Bagger Vance,” starring Will Smith and Matt Damon, has obviously lost its swing. Second weekend totals fell to $6.6 million, about 43% off the pace of its first weekend, bringing the golfing drama to a modest $21 million so far.

“Pay It Forward” is doing moderately well, as older audiences keep the inspirational drama going after four weeks. The estimate for the weekend was about $3.1 million, and just under $30 million to date. Another devil-may-care comedy, “Bedazzled,” lost more than 45% of its patrons, dropping to $2.5 million in its fourth weekend, and just under $35 million so far. Both films are disappointments relative to cost, highlighting the industry’s continuing problem with medium-budget, non-event movies.

After several weeks as a sterling performer in limited release, “Billy Elliot” attempted to break through to the mainstream and had fairly good results. The $2.8 million expected for the British drama (on only 494 screens) was enough to vault it into ninth place. With $6 million collected so far, the low-budget import has already paid for itself, the only drawback in the heartland being its R rating (no sex, no violence, just some bad words). Still, “Billy” has a chance to hang on and not be buried by the big-ticket Thanksgiving arrivals.

Another potential independent hit is the Sundance prize-winning drama “You Can Count on Me,” which opened to upbeat notices in New York and Los Angeles on Friday. In just eight theaters (and expanding to more cities next weekend), “Count” clocked $114,000--a strong start of more than $14,000 a screen. “Requiem for a Dream” is showing strong legs, despite the absence of an MPAA rating, with $245,000 over the weekend on 35 screens and an even $1 million to date.

And finally, Paramount is trying to breathe new life into the Michael Douglas film “Wonder Boys.” It reopened in about 15 major-city theaters for $83,000 over the weekend, boosting its total gross to just under $19 million. But this re-release is more about Academy Award consideration than box office.

According to the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 films were sufficiently impressive to crack $101 million or so, about 15% ahead of last year. The current year is trailing 1999’s record breaking totals by only a few million, with a couple of potentially explosive hits imminent.