Hollywood Thankful for Holiday Ticket Sales

By: Steve Biodrowski
Date: Tuesday, November 30, 1999

The five-day Thanksgiving weekend lured in multitudes of movie-goers, and attendance was helped by a variety of product in the marketplace. Two new films hit big, and two holdovers held on strong. The long weekend makes comparisons difficult; for instance, both THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and SLEEPY HOLLOW nearly equaled their opening weekend box office, but in order to calculate a film's staying power, three-day totals (from Friday to Saturday) are used.

Eight of the top ten films were either fantasy, horror, or science fiction efforts. In the top spot was TOY STORY 2, which made $57.4-million in the three-day, Friday-to-Sunday period. Along with revenues from Wednesday and Thursday, plus a one-week exclusive run in Los Angeles, the film's total is $80.5-million, just slightly sly of initial estimates but hardly what you'd call disapointing.

In second place was THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH. The film's three-day take was $23.2-million, down 35% from its opening weekend; however, the five day take was $35-million. Its total so far is $75-million.

In third was the weekend's other big deubt, END OF DAYS. The three-day take was $20.5-million for a five-day total of $31.5-million. Bad reviews could hurt long-term prospects, however.

SLEEPY HOLLOW rode into fourth with $18.4-million, a decrease of 39%. The ten-day total is $61.6-million, making it Tim Burton's biggest hit since BATMAN RETURNS earned $170-million in 1992.

Lagging behind in fifth was POKEMON with $7.1-million, a 43% drop. Its total is $77.7-million, making it one of the biggest U.S. release of an animated film ever.


In sixth was THE BONE COLLECTOR. Takein a 16% hit, the film earned $5.5-million, bringing its total to $53.7-million

DOGMA took the seventh position with $3.4-million, also a 16% dropoff. The cume is $21.

The eighth and ninth slots were occupied by non-genre films, but the Top Ten was rounded out by BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. The film actually saw a 10% increase in box office to $2-million, bringing its total to $11.9-million

Also showing a slight improvement was PRINCESS MONONOKE. Miramax widened the art house release from 41 to 124 theatres, resulting in a 124% increase in revenues. The $319,000 weekend take expands the film's total to $1.6-million

The remaining genre films to chart on this weekend's box office are listed below. Rankings are given in parentheses. Earnings are given in millions of dollars; weekend take precedes total to date.

The Sixth Sense (12) $1.5/272.3
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (14) $1.2/12.7
American Beauty (15) $1.2/66.5
House on Haunted Hill (19) $.710/38.6
The Omega Code (20) $.5o1/11.5
Fight Club (29) $.222/35.3
T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous $.184/$26.1
Elmo in Grouchland (33) $.171/11.5
Stir of Echoes (34) $.155/20.7
Siegfried and Roy: The Magic Box (37) $.137/1.4
Bats (43) $.109/10.1
Inspector Gadget (44) $.107/97.2
Bringing Out the Dead (56) $.055/16.4
Deep Blue Sea (59) $.044/73.6