‘The Mexican’ Holds Off ’15 Minutes’

The fame of the R-rated crime thriller “15 Minutes,” starring Robert De Niro, may indeed prove fleeting--coming in second to the Julia Roberts-Brad Pitt romantic adventure “The Mexican,” which hung on to first place in the box-office race for the second consecutive weekend.

“The Mexican” grossed $12.2 million, compared to $10.5 million for “15 Minutes.”

Meanwhile, the teen comedy “Get Over It” debuted in seventh place with a lackluster $4.1 million in ticket sales.

Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co., said the top 12 pictures this past weekend were down about 6% compared to last year--the first time the weekend grosses have failed to eclipse the previous year’s grosses in 21 weeks. He noted that “Mission to Mars” opened with $22.9 million a year ago and there was no film opening this past weekend that came close to matching that debut.

“It’s hard to beat a film like ‘The Mexican’ when there’s nothing else in the marketplace that inspires the moviegoers’ enthusiasm,” he said.

He also noted that both “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Traffic” will likely nudge past $100 million in box-office grosses within the next week, thus becoming the 21st and 22nd films released last year to have achieved that feat.

Weekend Box Office

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “The Mexican” $12.2 2,959 2 (DreamWorks) $38.4 $4,138 2. “15 Minutes” $10.5 2,337 1 (New Line) $10.5 $4,503 3. “See Spot Run” $6.6 2,656 2 (Warner Bros.) $18.0 $2,490 4. “Hannibal” $5.8 2,947 5 (MGM) $151.5 $1,984 5. “Down to Earth” $5.6 2,521 4 (Paramount) $51.1 $2,216 6. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” $4.3 1,756 14 (Sony Classics) $94.5 $2,424 7. “Get Over It” $4.1 1,742 1 (Miramax) $4.1 $2,374 8.”Traffic” $3.9 1,678 11 (USA Films) $97.5 $2,347 9. “Chocolat” $3.8 1,928 13 (Miramax) $51.0 $1,994 10. “Recess: School’s Out” $2.3 2,339 4 (Disney) $30.6 $987

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.