Genre Films Dominate

By: Steve Biodrowski
Date: Tuesday, August 08, 2000

Science fiction, horror, and fantasy films dominated the box office once again. Seven of the Top Ten films were genre titles, and of the thirteen films to earn over $1-milllion at the box office, ten were genre items. As expected, Hollow Man came in at #1, with $26.41-million, less than half a million short of Monday's estimates. Nutty Professor II landed in 2nd place with $18.17-million, a hair above predictions; the film's total has now reached $76.7-million in only ten days. In 3rd place with $18.09-million was Space Cowboys, which came in about half a million ahead of Monday's estimate, due to stronger than expected Sunday business, indicating that the film may have some staying power (a conclusion supported by Fandom's poll, which shows 27% of respondents grading the film with an A and another 24% giving it a B). Rounding out the Top Five was What Lies Beneath with $13.81-million, boosting it's total to $95.13-million.

The bottom half of the Top Ten begins with X-Men in 6th place with $6.76-million. The comic book his has amassed $126.24-million in 24 days. Still strong in 7th place was Scary Movie, which added $4.25-million to its $140.1-million total. The final genre film in the Top Ten was The Kid, which managed an additional $2.99-million, bringing its cume up to $58.32-million.

Three more genre films earned over $1-million at the box office, taking positions #11, 12, and 13, respectively. Pokemon 2000 earned $2.12-million; with a total of $38.23-million, it should fall well short of its predecessor. Thomas and the Magic Railroad chugged away for another $$2.03-million; after ten days, the film has reached only $10.86-million. Finally, Chicken Run gobbled up another $1.88-million. With $97.16-million so far, the film should easily surpass the $100-million markthe first stop-motion film ever to do so.

Below is a list of the Box Office Top Ten for the Weekend, plus any other science fiction, horror and fantasy films to earn a spot in the Top Sixty.

U.S. Box Office Finals 8/4 to 8/6/2000
1.	Hollow Man	$26.41-million/$26.41-million
2.	Nutty Professor II	$18.17-million/$76.70-million
3.	Space Cowboys	$18.09-million/$18.09-million
4.	Coyote Ugly	$17.32-million/$17.32-million
5.	What Lies Beneath	$13.81-million/$95.13-million
6.	X-Men	$6.76-million/$136.24-million
7.	Scary Movie	$4.25-million/$140.10-million
8.	The Perfect Storm	$3.98-million/$165.58-million
9.	The Kid	$2.99-million/$58.32-million
10.	The Patriot	$2.32-million/$105.72-million
11.	Pokemon 2000	$2.12-million/$38.23-million
12.	Thomas and the Magic Railroad	$2.03-million/$10.86-million
13.	Chicken Run	$1.88-million/$97.16-million
18.	Mission Impossible II	$471-thousand/$212.13-million
20.	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	$412-thousand/$$24.21-million
28.	Cirque du Soleil Journey of Man	$181-thousand/$4.94-million
37.	T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous	$94-thousand/$32.34 -million
38.	The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas	$93-thousand/$35.12-million
41.	Alien Adventure	$80-thousand/$2.13-million
42.	Final Destination	$72-thousand/$53.20-million
45.	Dinosaur	$69-thousand/$133.66-million
48.	Siegfried and Roy: The Magic Box	$54-thousand/$4.36-million
56.	Frequency	$41-thousand/$43.86-million