'Hulk' comes on strong, loses muscle

By Lorenza Munoz

June 23, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

A tortured green monster leaped to the top of the box office this weekend as Universal’s “The Hulk” burst into theaters with an estimated $62.6 million.

The highly anticipated dramatic action film marked the biggest debut for director Ang Lee, who is known for thoughtful adult dramas such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “The Ice Storm” and “Sense and Sensibility.” The big bow was also good news for Universal, which has three of the top five films, contributing an estimated $83 million or roughly 57% to the overall box office for the weekend’s top 15 films.

The estimate for “The Hulk” also represents one of the highest non-sequel superhero movie openings, behind only “Spider-Man.” The movie attracted a diverse crowd with 23% of the audience Latino, 14% African American, 7% Asian and the rest non-Latino whites. The audience was 62% male, by studio calculations, but evenly divided among people over and under the age of 25.

But “The Hulk’s” numbers apparently came in lower Saturday night than Friday night, dropping 12%, which could prove troubling for the picture’s longevity. As has been the case all summer, coming weeks hold an onslaught of major summer movies like “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” “Bad Boys 2” and “Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines.”

In other bows, Warner Bros.’ romantic comedy “Alex & Emma” came in at a disappointing $6.2 million, according to estimates. The movie appealed mainly to women, with 76% of the audience female. Sony Pictures Classics’ Thai drama “The Legend of Suriyothai” grossed $50,572 on seven screens. The independent film “Charlotte Sometimes,” an Asian American drama from Small Planet Pictures, grossed an estimated $10,400 on five screens in Los Angeles. The film previously toured Chicago and San Francisco and has accumulated an estimated $56,264.

Twentieth Century Fox’s “From Justin to Kelly” landed with a thud, pulling in only $2.9 million in 2,001 theaters. Those numbers -- along with disappointing returns for “The Real Cancun” released by New Line Cinema earlier this year -- indicate so-called reality TV is not ready for its big-screen close-up.

As for “The Hulk,” Universal executives said they expected a slight drop on Saturday based on past performances of movies of this sort such as “X-Men” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.” In addition, heavy competition is a given in the summer.

“Everybody, every studio, every film has to sustain itself in the marketplace,” said Nikki Rocco, head of domestic distribution for Universal. “It’s business as usual.” The film was an expensive venture, costing an estimated $137 million to $150 million to produce plus an additional $40 million to $50 million in domestic marketing. . Studio executives say the movie hit the expected range and has franchise potential considering “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “X-Men” and “Scooby-Doo” all opened between $47 million and $54 million.

On a smaller scale, one genre that seems to be working this summer is the documentary. Currently there are at least three that are earning respectable grosses. Sony Pictures Classics’ “Winged Migration,” which opened April 18, is still in theaters, grossing an estimated $361,107 over the weekend in 77 theaters. The Oscar-nominated French film has grossed $3.5 million.

Another Oscar nominee, “Spellbound,” distributed by Thinkfilm, has grossed $2.3 million since its April 30 release. The film grossed an estimated $333,759 on 93 screens this weekend. The controversial “Capturing the Friedmans,” is also doing well, grossing an estimated $215,000 for a total of $742,000. That film was released by Magnolia Pictures four weeks ago.

In its sixth weekend, meanwhile, “The Matrix Reloaded” has sparked interest in its Imax version. Although the film dropped 30% in 1,850 regular theaters, the movie’s grosses actually went up in Imax theaters. Warner Bros. boosted the Imax screen count from 39 to 50 over the weekend, resulting in an increase of 34% to $872,000, or $15,640 per Imax venue. “Reloaded” has grossed about $265 million to date.

Disney/Pixar’s critical and audience favorite “Finding Nemo” eased back to the No. 2 spot with an estimated $20.5 million. Its nearly $228 million total makes “Nemo” the second-highest-grossing film of the year. This weekend’s top 10 films grossed an estimated $137.7 million, an increase of 21% from last week but a drop of 6% from this time last year, according to the box office tracking firm Nielsen EDI.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Box Office

Preliminary results based on studio projections (in millions).

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total “The Hulk” $62.6 $62.6

“Finding Nemo” $20.5 $227.9

“2 Fast 2 Furious” $10.4 $102.1

“Bruce Almighty” $10 $210.7

“The Italian Job” $7.2 $67.7

“Rugrats Go Wild” $6.7 $23.5

“Alex & Emma” $6.2 $6.2

“Hollywood Homicide” $5.8 $21.4

“Dumb and Dumberer” $4.3 $19.9