‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ Shuts Down Competition

With more than half of the nation’s schools starting summer break over the past weekend, Disney wisely flagged “Gone in 60 Seconds” as a PG-13 film, adding to its core older male audience and subsequently speeding toward a flashy estimate of $25.5 million in its first race through 3,006 theaters.

Despite crushing reviews, “Gone” went from 0 to 60 on opening night, pulling into a clear lead ahead of the summer champion to date, “M:I-2.” Its debut is comparable to other nonstop action flicks of summers past, including “The Rock” and “Con Air.” About the only downside was the minuscule rise from Friday to Saturday--10%, while most other films rose more than 50%. That could indicate a resistance from anyone other than single males.

Meanwhile, “M:I-2” slipped off the top of the cliff to second place with another 37% drop in its third weekend in 3,669 theaters, for an estimated $17.1 million and a year-leading $158 million to date. Having surpassed the $150-million mark after only three weeks, “M:I-2” is positioned to become the year’s first $200-million-grossing film before it’s through.

However, there’s danger for both of this week’s leaders around the next curve from the “Shaft” remake, arriving Friday. And both films could lose younger viewers to another film opening that day--the animated action flick, “Titan A.E.”

The Martin Lawrence comedy “Big Momma’s House,” however, has another couple of weeks before a schizophrenic Jim Carrey blows into town with “Me, Myself and Irene.” Second weekend was all dressed up with somewhere to go--a predicted $16.8 million in 2,853 theaters for a fancy 10-day total of $52 million. With mid-week business heating up, this “Momma” could dance her way to $100 million before she’s through.

With only one new film debuting the second weekend in June, overall ticket sales were about 20% behind last year, when the “Austin Powers” sequel blasted into theaters. The top 12 films brought in just under $91 million, according to Exhibitor Relations, compared to $113 million last year.

Now that summer is beginning in earnest, fourth place “Dinosaur” needs to attract as many kids as it can in order to stay on course. The recent weekend was promising with only a 27% dip to an estimated $8.8 million in 3,275 theaters, meaning the innovative animation-live action film is not yet approaching extinction. But there are comets headed its way. “Titan A.E.” is aimed squarely at its young male audience and Disney is competing with itself by opening “Fantasia 2000” next weekend for national run.

“Dinosaur’s” days could be numbered and, with $110 million in the till so far, it might not have enough muscle to equal Disney’s 1999 summer hit “Tarzan,” which topped $170 million. Opening the film well in advance of the other summer family movies certainly seemed like a good idea, but without business from kids on Monday through Friday during “Dinosaur’s” initial weeks, the very expensive film may have shortened its theatrical life.

“Gladiator,” however, is still very much in the winner’s circle, still in the top five after six weeks in theaters. The past weekend showed only a small drop of 15%, to a feisty $7.1 million or so in 2,706 runs. The Roman-era epic has now reached the $150-million level.

“Shanghai Noon” fell to an estimated $5.8 million in its third weekend on 2,751 screens, and, despite good word of mouth, has only reached $41.5 million so far, meaning it will only be a modest summer performer. Conversely, “Road Trip,” the teen gross-out comedy, is still on the road with an estimated $4.7 million expected in its fourth weekend, and a comfortable $54 million after a month in theaters. The remaining films in the top 10 are all nearing the end of their runs. “Frequency” rounded $40 million over the weekend based on an estimated $1.5 million in 1,219 theaters, making it one of the better late-spring films. “Small Time Crooks” has become Woody Allen’s best performer in recent memory with $13.2 million to date, about $1.3 million in its fourth weekend in 886 theaters. Tenth-place “U-571” established a niche for itself by opening in late April and has now accumulated $73 million with $1.1 million of that over the weekend in 1,112 theaters.

Paramount Classics had a little light in its life from the Hungarian epic “Sunshine,” which received critical bouquets and $92,583 on only seven screens in New York and Los Angeles. “Sunshine” expands on June 23. In slightly wider release, the company has Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides,” which captured $222,000 over the weekend on 192 screens for a $3.7-million total to date.

Miramax debuted Kenneth Branagh’s all-singing, all-dancing version of Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” over the weekend on both coasts. The film’s charms were lost on critics, but Bardophiles bit for $27,000 on two screens.