‘Swimfan’ Spoils ‘Wedding’ Plans

Ateenage psycho-stalker drama overcame critics’ pans and the momentum behind the summer’s biggest indie hit this weekend as 20th Century Fox’s “Swimfan” finished in the top spot, ahead of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

“Swimfan,” which stars Erika Christensen (“Traffic”) and Jesse Bradford (“Bring It On”) in the story of a girl who stalks a high school swim star, was panned by nearly every critic in America but made an estimated $12 million, thanks to a large showing by the 25-and-under crowd. More than 60% of the film’s audience was teenage girls.

But the film’s opening at No. 1 surprised even 20th Century Fox Studio executives, who said the movie found an audience with the kids who had already seen the spy action picture “XXX” and the girl-surfer drama “Blue Crush,” and were looking for something new.

“Kids gobble things up very quickly and they move on to something else,” said Richard Myerson, executive vice president and general sales manager for Fox. “It’s one of those things, which honestly, we said, ‘Whoa!’ ”

Even though it didn’t reach No. 1, “Greek Wedding” continues to cash in at the box office, making an estimated $10.6 million over the weekend for a cumulative total of $96 million.

The film has been in release since May, and has slowly crept its way up the charts, making it one of the most profitable independent hits of all time. It is expected to cross the $100-million domestic threshold by next weekend, particularly impressive for a film with a production budget of just about $5 million.

Warner Bros.’ drama “City by the Sea,” starring Robert De Niro and James Franco, came in at No. 3 with $9.1 million on its opening weekend.

Buena Vista’s “Signs” continued to do well, making $8 million over the weekend for a total of $205.8 million since its release six weeks ago. It joins “Austin Powers in Goldmember” as the only films released during the summer months to gross more than $200 million domestically.

Vin Diesel’s action thriller “XXX” rolled down the charts to No. 5, bringing in $5.5 million over the weekend for a domestic total of $131 million since early August.

Dimension’s “Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams” came in at No. 6 with $2.7 million over the weekend and a total to date of $73.9 million.

Fox Searchlight’s “The Good Girl” continued to show strength at the box office, grossing $1.5 million over the weekend, making $9.7 million since its release five weeks ago. Another limited-release film, Robin Williams’ creepy drama “One Hour Photo,” is showing that thrillers about stalkers work well at the box office, making $1.4 million on only 173 screens nationwide. The movie has made $5.9 million since its release three weeks ago.

The total box office for the weekend’s top 10 movies was $57.5 million, down 32% from last week, but up slightly from the same time last year.