‘Pearl Harbor’ Making Its Marks

With an estimated $75.1 million in its initial four days, “Pearl Harbor” took advantage of the Memorial Day weekend to become the highest-grossing non-sequel film ever.

The World War II epic led the way in what appears to be the biggest moviegoing weekend ever, teaming with “Shrek” and “The Mummy Returns” to account for almost $150 million of the estimated $178.5 million collected by the top 12 films over the four-day holiday, according to the industry tracking service Exhibitor Relations.

Somewhat a victim of its own media hype, “Pearl Harbor” did not break the $92.7-million record weekend debut of “The Lost World,” established over Memorial Day weekend in 1997. But it’s the second-largest four-day gross ever. The only other films in that heady league are sequels such as “Mission Impossible 2,” “Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace” and, recently, “The Mummy Returns,” which took in $68 million in its first three days.

Suffering through largely mixed reviews (thumbs up for action, thumbs down for drama), the three-hour dramatic reenactment of the infamous event was confined by its running time, lack of big box-office names and, somewhat, by its subject matter, making the overall gross all the more impressive.

The solo evening performances in theaters--possibly on as many as 6,000 screens--were largely sold out, according to Chuck Viane, Disney’s senior distribution executive. As expected, the audience was primarily older than 25 with slightly more males, though women gave the film higher ratings than men did when they were polled on the way out of the theater, according to “Pearl Harbor” producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

“It was a long struggle, but we made it,” says Bruckheimer of the $140-million epic’s history, which included budget trims and salary deferrals to keep the film’s costs from getting out of control. With exit polls finding 60% of respondents grading it in the excellent range--and even higher in the American heartland--Bruckheimer expects “Pearl Harbor” to be in theaters throughout the summer.

The film’s success is good news for Disney, which got a boost in its stock price last week and could see another uptick this week in the wake of the film’s strong debut. The studio, which has had a largely dormant year at the box office, follows up with its annual summer animated entry, “Atlantis,” which debuts nationally June 15.

Because of “Pearl Harbor’s” foreordained blockbuster status, all the other major studios avoided opening any film against it, even over Memorial Day weekend, when attendance surges. The beneficiary proved to be “Shrek,” and, to a lesser degree, “The Mummy Returns.” In its second weekend, “Shrek” actually out-grossed its opening three days and scared up a monster estimate of $54.2 million for the four-day holiday. On Sunday, “Shrek” became the fourth film of the year to achieve $100 million. Its total so far is a staggering $110.7 million.

The third film to reach $100 million was “The Mummy Returns,” which took in an additional $19.1 million over the four-day holiday, bringing its monthlong total to more than $170 million, making it the highest grossing film in the year to date. Having surpassed the original “The Mummy,” which grossed $153 million two years ago, the sequel appears headed for $200 million.

“Shrek” and “Pearl Harbor” also appear to be $200-million candidates, depending on how well they hold up against the competition in June--which looks to be brutal. Only three films in all of 2000 surpassed $200 million--and the summer has just begun.

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“A Knight’s Tale” is rocking while it can, with $9.3 million expected in its third weekend and almost $45 million in its first three weeks. “Angel Eyes,” starring Jennifer Lopez, however, is way down from its mediocre opening weekend, grossing an estimated $6.3 million and a weak $18.6 million in its first 11 days.

The theatrical life of films such as “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Along Came a Spider,” “Blow” and “Memento” have been extended thanks to the relative dearth of new films. “Bridget” crossed the $60-million mark over the weekend, adding approximately $4 million to its total. “Spider” climbed past $70 million, with $2.2 million collected over its eighth weekend.

“Memento” was in eighth place on only 531 screens with an estimated $1.85 million over the weekend and $14.4 million to date. Behind it was “Blow,” with a expected $1.3 million on 733 screens and almost $52 million to date. In 10th place is “Driven,” with $1.2 million predicted and almost $31 million so far.

Still playing on only two big city screens, “Moulin Rouge” had another big weekend with $254,098 collected over the four-day holiday and almost $600,000 in two weeks. “Rouge” spreads to almost 2,300 theaters nationally Friday, which also marks the opening of two comedies--”The Animal,” starring Rob Schneider, and “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” with Martin Lawrence.

Of the other limited releases, the documentary “Startup.com” is catching on with $212,000 over the weekend on 24 screens and $361,000 to date. And Ziang Yimou’s “The Road Home” had a $71,411 debut on six screens in New York and Los Angeles.