Oh, the horror of it all.
No one wants to get all mushy at Halloween. We want to cover our eyes at the terrifying sight of zombies slurping on fresh brains and ax-wielding maniacs slicing and dicing promiscuous teens.
Unfortunately for those with a dislike for boy bands, no such homicidal lunatics threaten to dismember ‘N Sync‘s Lance Bass and Joey Fatone, the stars of the romantic comedy On the Line. And Kevin Spacey may present himself as an alien in K-PAX, but he’s just as cute and cuddly as E.T. So don’t expect costar Jeff Bridges–as Spacey‘s psychiatrist– to sire any gut-busting baby Martians.
Shred counter-programming? Or ill-fated endeavors?
Probably the latter.
Like Labor Day, Halloween is not known for generating huge box office results. Indeed, 1994’s Stargate holds the Halloween opening weekend record with $16.6 million.
This year might be different, given that many parents are reluctant to take their kids trick or treating in light of recent anthrax-related events.
Still, Spacey and Bridges do not qualify as major draws. Spacey‘s 2000’s Pay It Forward settled for a weak $9.6 million during its pre-Halloween opening. The sugary drama found itself preaching to the converted as it eventually made a modest $33.5 million. The Mirror Has Two Faces gave Bridges his best opening in years, but its $12.2 million tally ranked as a disappointment for a Barbra Streisand vanity project.
‘N Sync‘s popularity–still strong, but waning–won’t assist On the Line. The romance, starring Bass as an adman who spots the girl of his dreams on Chicago’s L train, arrives at a modest 820 theaters. Distributor Miramax clearly sees no appeal for On the Line beyond the adolescent girls still hung up on the prefab five. Bass also has the misfortune to follow Mariah Carey‘s starring debut, Glitter, which earned a less-than-melodious $2.4 million at 1,202 theaters during its opening weekend.
This means that audiences will no doubt head to theaters looking for a good fright. No. 1 champ From Hell, though, faces frightful competition from 13 Ghosts, a remake of the old William Castle chiller from producers Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver. Castle obviously remains an inspiration to the producers, who remade his The House on Haunted Hill in 1999 and scared up $40.8 million for their trouble. If 13 Ghosts scores, can we soon expect Zemeckis and Silver to resurrect The Tingler?
Like The House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts unleashes ghoul after ghoul upon the unsuspecting inhabitants of a uniquely constructed home. In this case, Tony Shalhoub, Shannon Elizabeth and Matthew Lillard fend off the ghosts that terrorize a house made out of glass. Zemeckis and Silver employed the same formula with The House on Haunted Hill–special effects over star power-and enjoyed a $15.9 million opening.
What worked for The House on Haunted Hill will likely work for 13 Ghosts. That leaves Johnny Depp‘s From Hell in a precarious position. The Hughes Brothers‘ stylish but strained Jack the Ripper thriller carved up just $11 million in its opening weekend, with its total standing at $13.8 million through Wednesday. That bests the openings for two other Depp horror misfires, The Astronaut’s Wife and The Ninth Gate. But if interest remains slight, then From Hell may not earn much more than the $30 million that Depp‘s Sleepy Hollow generated in its opening weekend in 1999.
From Hell also receives a slight threat from Bones, a ghost story marking rapper Snoop Dogg‘s starring debut. Bones opened Wednesday with $431,000 million in only 800-plus theaters, but Snoop Dogg‘s presence should guarantee initial interest from those who like nothing better than kicking it back with some “Gin and Juice.” Bones dig up about $3 million this weekend.
Snoop Dogg‘s pretty busy these days. He enjoys a brief but memorable cameo as a wheelchair-bound crack dealer in Training Day. The gritty good-cop-vs.-corrupt-cop saga continues to arrest audiences, having made $59.2 million through Wednesday.
MGM’s assertion that Bandits was a victim of anthrax-related threats doesn’t seem to hold much weight these days. The critically acclaimed heist yarn, starring Bruce Willis and directed by Barry Levinson, tumbled from $13 million during its opening weekend to $8.3 million last weekend. Its total is $26.5 million through Wednesday. Once one of fall’s highly touted offerings, Bandits may end up as something of a disappointment for all concerned. Bandits certainly won’t surpass the $57.2 million that Willis‘ other crime caper, The Whole Nine Yards, made last year.
Riding In Cars With Boys, a dramatic detour for Drew Barrymore, overcame negative reviews to make $10.4 million last weekend and a total $12.4 million through Wednesday. That’s more than the $10.5 million that Home Fries–also featuring Barrymore as an unwedded mother-to-be–earned in November 1998. Yet it’s no match for such Barrymore comedies as The Wedding Singer and Never Been Kissed. Riding In Cars With Boys should match or slightly exceed the $23.4 million that her Boys on the Side made in 1996. And it also could mark director Penny Marshall‘s third consecutive box office disappointment, following Renaissance Man and The Preacher’s Wife.
Apathy greeted Robert Redford‘s return to prison, with The Last Castle earning $7 million last weekend and a total $8.6 million through Wednesday. In contrast, Brubaker, starring Redford as a reform-minded prison warden, made $37.1 million in 1980. The Rod Lurie-directed military drama looks set to make a little more than the $17.8 million that his The Contender made last year. Redford will no doubt experience a better response to this month’s Spy Game. Of course, it helps that his costar is another golden boy, Brad Pitt, and not burly thugs with a penchant for homemade tattoos and the occasional conjugal visit.
