Take This, Dr. Evil: ‘Signs’ Is First, Above Summer Sequels

Director M. Night Shyamalan’s science-fiction thriller “Signs” exploded at the box office over the weekend, raking in a hefty $60.3 million and pushing “Austin Powers in Goldmember” to No. 2.

Mike Myers’ James Bond spoof dropped nearly 60% in its second weekend, collecting $32 million, but “Goldmember” continues to do well, having generated a total of $142 million since its release.

The opening for “Signs” was the largest for Shyamalan and box office king Mel Gibson, both of whom needed a big hit after their previous films failed to ignite at the box office. The grosses stunned Disney executives, who had predicted it would come in between $35 million and $45 million.

“Typically if you look at a feature like this, you expect in your mind that it will play suburban, but this played in every theater, in big cities and little cities,” said Chuck Viane, senior distribution executive at Disney. He added that the film’s demographic cut across all age groups and genders. “And, boy, that does not happen very often.”

“Signs” stars Gibson as a Pennsylvania farmer who awakens to find a mysterious crop circle on his field. The film prompted a flurry of television specials, newspaper articles and books focusing on the phenomenon and whether the crop formations are the work of pranksters or aliens.

The big first weekend was great news for Gibson, whose last film, “We Were Soldiers,” failed to open at No. 1. It eventually took in $80 million but was considered a disappointment in its initial weekend.

In addition, Shyamalan’s last film, the creepy thriller “Unbreakable,” ended up grossing a respectable $96 million but was dwarfed by the success of his first film, “The Sixth Sense,” which grossed $293 million domestically and was nominated for six Academy Awards.

And Disney needed a live-action hit after the dismal performance of two of its summer films, “Bad Company” and “The Country Bears.” Some analysts said “Signs” benefited not only from the media attention and star power of Gibson, but also from the lack of original, commercial adult films in a summer clogged with mindless sequels.

“It was a unique film in the marketplace,” said Gitesh Pandya, editor of boxofficeguru.com. “There were not many scary movies this summer. Mel Gibson is still one of the bankable stars in Hollywood and the director has become a huge name himself. Disney had an excellent campaign [that] intrigued the audience but did not give away too much about the plot.”

Despite the big audience for “Signs,” the collective box office take for all films this weekend was an estimated $154 million, down 10% from the same weekend last year. Nonetheless, this year’s box office remains 15% ahead of last year, according to Nielsen EDI, a box office tracking service.

Among other movies this weekend, Martin Lawrence’s concert film, “Runteldat,” which was made for $3 million, opened well, bringing in $7.5 million on 752 screens, while Steven Soderbergh’s “Full Frontal” opened to $725,000 on 208 screens. The latter film, which cost $2 million and was pre-sold to foreign territories for $7 million, again paired Soderbergh with Julia Roberts, who won an Academy Award for her performance in his “Erin Brockovich.”

DreamWorks’ “Road to Perdition,” with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, dropped 40% in its third weekend out, taking in $6.6 million for a cumulative total of $77.2 million. The Matt Damon spy thriller, “The Bourne Identity,” continues to chug along, grossing $1.6 million over the weekend on 989 screens, for a total of $113 million since its June 14 opening.

Revolution Studios’ “The Master of Disguise,” starring Dana Carvey, collected $13 million its first weekend out, while Sony’s “Stuart Little 2” brought in $6 million in its third weekend, for a total of $46.8 million.

“Men in Black II” churned up another $4.7 million for a total of $182 million in its fifth week out. And the Harrison Ford dud “K-19: The Widowmaker” continued its downward spiral with a $3-million take for a cumulative sum of $30 million.