‘Ryan’ Still Leading the Charge at the Box Office

Successfully penetrating enemy lines, “Saving Private Ryan” overcame a band of newcomers to remain in the top spot at the nation’s box office. “Ryan” lost only 24% of its opening weekend business to gross an estimated $23.3 million in 2,540 theaters for a 10-day total of about $73 million.

Of the quartet of newcomers, three vaulted into the top 5 in their debuts: “The Parent Trap,” “The Negotiator” and “Ever After,” in second, fourth and fifth, respectively. The sports spoof “BASEketball” also debuted but was shut out, failing even to crack the top 10.

Disney’s remake of “The Parent Trap” got a running start Wednesday and was able to lead the pack of new arrivals due to its pre-sold title and the Disney brand name. In its first weekend, “Parent Trap” got together an estimated $11.5 million in 2,247 theaters, giving the film about $16.6 million in its first five days.

“Trap” shared the female target audience with Drew Barrymore’s post-feminist Cinderella fable “Ever After,” which charmed about $8.5 million out of 1,767 theaters. But they didn’t cannibalize each other too much, and both fell victim to a fairly soft Saturday in certain parts of the country.

“There are too many films in the marketplace,” said Fox senior executive Tom Sherak, echoing a sentiment expressed by most studio executives these days.

Both “Parent Trap” and “Ever After” are aimed at the female and/or family audience looking for fresh titles after weeks of “Mulan” and “Dr. Dolittle,” and both films exhibited strong exit polls according to senior executives from Disney and Fox.

“The Negotiator,” starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey, talked its way past most of the action competition thanks to Warners’ decision to open it on Wednesday, allowing it to build toward the weekend. “Negotiator” performed comparably to “Out of Sight” (which opened in late June) with a reported $10.4 million (though competing studios put the weekend total closer to $9.4 million) on 2,436 screens, for a five-day sum around $13 million.

“BASEketball,” comedic nonsense about a new sport that combines two popular old ones, failed to even reach first base, taking in $3 million in 1,907 theaters. That’s gotta hurt.

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As the dog days begin, business for the top dozen films is ever so slightly ahead of last year, according to the industry tracking survey Exhibitor Relations, meaning that attendance is flat at best, despite the arrival of four major studio movies.

Of the other continuing films, the brightest star is “There’s Something About Mary,” which again sustained the smallest drop in attendance (12%) of any film playing, topping the $10 million mark for the third week running and climbing a notch to third place in the rankings. On 2,145 screens, “Mary” grossed out $11 million, for a three-week total of $60 million. “Mary” looks to be one of those rare films that will reach $100 million without ever having ranked first at the box office.

Three other action films maintained a solid level of business. “The Mask of Zorro” is proving to be a decent-sized performer with a third weekend total of $8.5 million on 2,515 screens, for $62 million to date. “Lethal Weapon 4” lost another 40% but had a still-potent estimate of $7.7 million in 2,602 houses, for about $108 million in its first month. “Armageddon” continues solid as a rock in its fifth weekend, with an estimated $7.5 million in 2,491 theaters for about $163 million so far.

Rounding out the top 10 was the ever-popular “Dr. Dolittle,” with an estimated $4.4 million and $126 million after only six weeks, and “Mafia!,” which lost almost half its business, dropping to about $3.6 million ($13.7 million so far), but managing to keep ahead of “BASEketball.” Expect to see both comedies on your neighborhood video shelves in the very near future.

And look for a box-office jolt next weekend. “Halloween H20” opens Wednesday. The scare-fest franchise has been dusted off and looks to be one of the late summer’s major performers. At least that’s how most of the major studios are behaving, moving their new films out of what they perceive to be harm’s way. Only Paramount is brave enough to roll the dice with Brian de Palma’s “Snake Eyes,” starring Nicolas Cage, which opens Friday.