|
Little mouse swallows submarine
But it's no big victory.
|
Arthur J Pais
The talking mouse torpedoed the submarine but then the victory was not worth crowing about. For, the mouse just could not roar.
Despite upbeat reviews and many analysts predicting it would gross at least $30 million in its first weekend, Stuart Little 2, the endearing story of a talking mouse and his human 'brother', grossed just about $15.6 million.
It claimed the top position, narrowly beating, Harrison Ford's submarine drama, K-19, The Widowmaker and Road to Perdition.
The current figures are estimates and there could be a slight change when the final figures come on July 22. There are some Hollywood insiders who believe that Road to Perdition could be the top earner. If so, the gangster film that opened 10 days ago and was ranked No 2 last week, will sit at the top for at least for five days, till Austin Powers In Goldmember opens this weekend.
K-19, which received mixed reviews, opened at No 4 with about $13 million, following Men in Black II that grossed about $15 million on its way to a $200 million gross.
Given the low grosses for Stuart Little 2 and K-19, it was no surprise that the weekend was the first truly disappointing weekend this summer. Each of the disappointing flicks cost more than $100 million.
Stuart Little 2 grossed as much as Stuart Little grossed over two year ago but the latter, which earned about $300 million worldwide in theatres and made even more money through video, DVD and tie-in sales, was released at a time when there were not many kid movies around.
The new Stuart Little could still be profitable if it continues to run without big declines each week and does excellent business abroad, and more important, has a good life in video stores six months from now.
But it faces fierce competition. While Disney's The Country Bears opens next week, some of the older kiddie movies such as Lilo & Stitch and Scooby- Doo are still playing in hundreds of theaters.
While the first Stuart Little opened in about 1800 theaters, the new edition was shown in nearly 3,500 theaters.
Ford, who turned 60 recently, is also executive-produced K-19. The film competed with Road to Perdition, certainly the best-reviewed film so far this year, for mature audiences.
The Ford flick, essentially a story of clash between two idealistic men (Ford and Liam Neeson) on a newly minted Soviet submarine has many gripping moments and fine performances. But the plot at times seems too convoluted and director Kathryn Bigelow has not fully succeeded in convincing us why the two adversaries come to admire each other.
Meanwhile, there is good news for Adam Sandler. His populist comedy, Mr Deed, flaunting small-town values against the big time greed in a metropolis, held steady, earning $7.5 million and reaching $106 million. With a $125 million projection, the film has restored Sandler's standing that was badly bruised when his previous film, Little Nicky grossed just about $40 million in North America and bombed abroad too.
With about 350 theaters added and taking the total to 2,159, Road to Perdition is doing steady but unspectacular business. It will add some more theaters in the next week. Even with the addition of theaters, it is still being seen in significantly less number of theaters than most movies. K-19, for instance, is in nearly 2,900 theaters, and Men in Black 2 in its third week, is in about 3,600 theaters.