‘Son’ barely a chip off the ‘Mask’ block

Though industry odds-makers had favored “Constantine” to open atop the long holiday box office, Will Smith’s love doctor, “Hitch,” held onto the top spot in its second weekend. But the real jaw-dropper was the $93-million “Son of the Mask,” which took in an estimated $10.1 million.

New Line’s attempt to build a franchise off “The Mask,” the Jim Carrey hit from 11 years ago, ended up at No. 4, behind “Because of Winn-Dixie,” a family film from Fox that took in an estimated $13.2 million.

“We definitely had higher hopes for the film,” said John Smith, New Line vice president of publicity. “It was a disappointment.”

With the original “The Mask” grossing $120 million domestically and an additional $231.5 million overseas, it’s easy to see why New Line was eager to resurrect the franchise.

While the studio officially puts the budget at $84 million, neither that nor the higher figure from reliable sources within the company include the cost of marketing the film, which is at bare minimum $20 million.

Smith said New Line had “an exposure of only $20 million” on the film because of sales to foreign distributors, but the cost of domestic prints and advertising takes that to at least $40 million. If the film, which wasn’t helped by poor reviews, ends up grossing $20 million or even $25 million, New Line’s take will range from $10 million to $12.5 million, far shy of the estimated $40 million needed to break even.

It likely will be an uphill battle for “Son of the Mask” to recoup costs in the home entertainment market, as films that do poorly in theaters are a harder sell on DVD. To do that the company would need to sell 3 million to 4 million DVDs depending on the wholesale cost, which is not impossible, given that family titles tend to sell well.

By comparison, Sony’s hit family comedy “Are We There Yet?” grossed $8.1 million in fifth place in its fifth weekend, bringing it to a total of $71 million. The Ice Cube vehicle cost about $25 million to make, so its production costs are more than covered.

Box office overall, led by “Hitch” with $36.5 million and “Constantine” with $34.6 million, was fairly healthy with an estimated total for all films of $157 million, up 8% over the comparable four-day holiday weekend last year.

Three of the five Academy Award nominees for best picture remained in the top 10, with “Million Dollar Baby” taking in an estimated $7.8 million at No. 6. “The Aviator” was No. 9 with $5 million, and “Sideways” was No. 10 with $4.6 million.