Dinosaurs Dominate; Sweethearts Roar Too

Even with the arrival of two substantial box-office draws over the weekend, “Jurassic Park III” and “America’s Sweethearts,” which accounted for a combined estimate of $81 million, estimated totals for the weekend were barely ahead of last year, after three down weekends. That puts a lot of pressure on upcoming high-profile releases to kick the summer season into overdrive.

The 1999 record still stands, and only a reversal of fortune in August will do the trick. With few exceptions, the usually dependable repeat business pattern of the summer months has largely fallen apart, with the economy and overall low satisfaction level contributing to the decline.

On the upside, the “Jurassic Park” dinosaur franchise continues to be prosperous for Universal Pictures, with the third installment stomping toward an estimated $50.3 million over the weekend and a roaring $81 million in its first five days of release. The first two wildly popular movies brought in $1.5 billion to the studio and producer Amblin Entertainment, and the new arrival attracted older viewers (58% of the audience was over 25) as well as younger kids and their families. After a $19-million opening day on Wednesday, the adventure series topped that on Saturday with $20 million, easily capturing the No. 1 spot over the weekend. For Universal, it’s the studio’s third $40-million-plus opening weekend of the summer, following “The Mummy Returns” and “The Fast and the Furious.”

Universal marketing head Peter Adee says the marketing of “JPIII” emphasized the thrill-ride aspect of the film “with an edge. We also told people this one was slightly more intense.”

Now all eyes are on this coming Friday when another big-scale action film, the “Planet of the Apes” remake, goes head to head with the prehistoric creatures. Given the brutal second-weekend drop-off of most summer releases, “JPIII,” is likely to take a hit. Then things really get interesting when “Rush Hour 2” arrives the following Friday.

Julia Roberts continues to justify her reputation as the world’s leading female star in the ensemble comedy “America’s Sweethearts,” which debuted to a lush $31 million, even though critics were not exactly sweet on it. “Sweethearts” is the actress’ second-best debut behind 1999’s “Runaway Bride,” which grossed $35 million its first weekend. Though older females predominated, Sony Pictures senior executive Jeff Blake reports that 45% of the audience was male and an equal number were under 25, meaning the film’s appeal has some breadth. “Sweethearts” has only one competitor for the female and date-night audience, “Legally Blonde,” and the two films have no rivals in the foreseeable future.

Nonetheless, the playing field is beastly, and not just because of dinosaurs, apes and other assorted quadrupeds. Even a solid hit like “Legally Blonde,” starring Reese Witherspoon, which grossed about $32 million in its first full week, suffered a 46% drop, though it took in a still-peppy $11 million in its second weekend. Its 10-day total is $43.4 million, giving Witherspoon her first real breakout hit and making “Blonde” one of the surprise hits of the summer.

The heist drama “The Score” settled for a second-weekend dip of 43%. It nabbed an estimated $10.7 million for a solid 10-day total of $37.1 million, largely from the over-25 audience.

The past weekend was only the second time that two films grossed $30 million or more at the same time--the other was in November 1999 when “The World Is Not Enough” and “Sleepy Hollow” debuted on the same weekend. Still, if estimates hold up, the top 12 movies should bring in about $134 million, only 5% ahead of last year, according to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Inc.

The kids who weren’t at “JPIII” were still going to “Cats & Dogs,” which grossed an amiable $6.8 million in its third weekend, for a total to date of about $73 million. “Cats & Dogs” might not quite make it to $100 million, but it should easily outperform Disney’s “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” which is out of the top 12 and has grossed about $77 million after seven weeks.

The surprise hit “The Fast and the Furious” still has its pedal to the metal after five weeks, grossing $5.3 million over the weekend, taking it to the $125-million mark.

The specialized-film area saw an infusion of new titles over the weekend, most prominently the rock musical drama “Hedwig & the Angry Inch,” which was greeted with a $153,000 weekend on nine big-city screens. The offbeat teen comedy “Ghost World” also got off to a rocking start with $101,000 on five screens in New York, L.A. and Seattle. Both films expand to other major cities Aug. 3. The second weekend on Jon Favreau’s mob comedy “Made” has it made in the shade with $270,000 on 19 screens and almost $500,000 in 10 days.