Weekend for Comedies and Contenders

On a weekend when movie attendance might have been dampened by Sunday evening’s Academy Awards, two new romantic comedies topped the box-office chart.

“Heartbreakers,” which stars Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt as mother-daughter con artists, led the pack with $11.8 million in ticket sales.

Following in close second was “The Brothers,” which featured an African American cast. It grossed $10.3 million with a healthy per-screen average of $7,477.

Lost in the glut of romantic comedy offerings was the Heather Graham film “Say It Isn’t So,” which opened a dismal 10th with only $2.9 million in box office.

“You basically had ‘Heartbreakers,’ ‘The Brothers,’ ‘The Mexican,’ ‘Chocolat,’ ‘Say It Isn’t So’ and even ‘Down to Earth’ all appealing to a similar segment of the marketplace,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm, Exhibitor Relations Co.

He noted that two films that received Academy Award nominations for best picture saw their box office climb over the weekend--”Traffic” by 16% and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” by 14% over the previous weekend.

“A lot of people seemed to have rushed out to see these movies at the last minute so they could watch the Oscars with an informed mind,” Dergarabedian said.

Weekend Box Office

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Heartbreakers” $11.8 2,750 1 (MGM) $11.8 $4,291 2. “The Brothers” $10.3 1,378 1 (Sony/Screen Gems) $10.3 $7,477 3. “Exit Wounds” $9.7 2,830 2 (Warner Bros.) $33.1 $3,431 4. “Enemy at the Gates” $8.3 1,677 2 (Paramount) $26.1 $4,924 5. “The Mexican” $4.62 3,043 4 (DreamWorks) $58.0 $1,519 6. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” $4.61 2,027 16 (Sony Classics) $106.3 $2,276 7. “Traffic” $3.9 1,684 13 (USA Films) $107.7 $2,344 8.”See Spot Run” $3.6 2,605 4 (Warner Bros.) $29.5 $1,384 9.”Chocolat” $3.3 1,781 15 (Miramax) $60.7 $1,857 10.”Say It Isn’t So” $2.9 1,974 1 (Fox) $2.9 $1,450

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.