BoxOffice Report Weekend 03.08 to 03.10

DreamWorks' "The Time Machine" materialized in the top spot on its opening weekend at the boxoffice as the sci-fi adventure clocked an estimated $22.5 million -- the second-highest debut ever recorded in early March. The boxoffice debut for "Time" exceeded prerelease indicators heading into the weekend by a notable margin.

Based on the classic novel by H.G. Wells and helmed by his great-grandson Simon Wells, "Time" was second to Buena Vista's "Mission to Mars," which opened March 10, 2000, to $22.9 million. The latest incarnation of "Time," which was made into a film in the 1960s starring Rod Taylor, stars Guy Pearce in the leading role.

Paramount's "We Were Soldiers" held its ground as it moved into the second spot on its sophomore weekend, taking a mild drop of 29% and advancing the boxoffice for the Mel Gibson starrer an estimated $14.45 million. The Vietnam War-era film, helmed and written by Randall Wallace, has picked up an estimated $40.8 million in 10 days.

New Line's "All About the Benjamins" was the only other film to open in wide release this weekend. The crime comedy starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps opened in the third slot with an estimated $10.1 million. The R-rated "Benjamins" generated a solid $6,711 per-theater average from 1,505 locations -- about half the theaters of this weekend's top two films.

Overall, it was a solid weekend at the boxoffice in North America as the estimated total for the top 12 films was up an impressive 34% from the comparable period a year ago. It also marks the fourth straight weekend the total boxoffice for all films has surpassed last year's corresponding cume by a double-digit margin.

Miramax's "40 Days and 40 Nights" dropped into the fourth slot on its sophomore frame, pulling in an estimated $7.1 million -- slipping 42% from its debut despite adding 174 theaters. The romantic comedy starring Josh Hartnett has grossed about $22.9 million after 10 days in release.

New Line's "John Q." continued to sustain mild week-to-week drops as the Denzel Washington starrer billed an estimated $6 million to place fifth, upping its cume to about $59.1 million after four weekends in the marketplace.

As it convincingly took the top spot, executives at DreamWorks were understandably pleased with the debut of "Time." "This is a strong opening; there have only been a handful of movies that opened in the first half of March to over $20 million," DreamWorks head of distribution Jim Tharp said. "Expectations based on the tracking going into the weekend had the film opening in the midteens."

Tharp said he felt that the film's PG-13 rating helped at the boxoffice this weekend, adding: "Of the most recent films, many have been rated R. 'Time Machine' is something new the entire family can see." He also credited the film's strong pedigree, noting its classic literary heritage.

"Time" was co-produced with Warner Bros., which has international distribution rights, and worldwide rentals will be split 50-50 between the two companies. The film will roll out internationally fairly soon. In early exit polls, more males than females were in attendance for the film this weekend, and with its PG-13 rating, the age demographic was fairly evenly split among all age groups.

In the arena of limited releases, Paramount Classics' "Festival in Cannes," written and directed by Henry Jaglom, opened in six locations in New York and Los Angeles and took in an estimated $44,000. Executives at Paramount Classics were keen on the film's performance this weekend. The documentary, about three love stories and three generations and set in the world of the international movie business, averaged a robust $7,333 per theater.

USA Films' "Monsoon Wedding" added 65 theaters in its third weekend, bringing the total to 76, and unwrapped an estimated $779,012. The Mira Nair-helmed film continued to attract sizable audiences as it averaged a solid $10,250 per theater, upping its cume to about $1.2 million after 17 days.

Palm's "Scratch" added two locations, raising the theater count to seven, and grossed an estimated $34,620. The hip-hop documentary averaged $4,946 per theater and has generated $118,239 to date.

Oscar contenders for best picture continued to do well at the boxoffice as the two front-runners remained in the weekend's top 10. Universal's "A Beautiful Mind" was eighth with an estimated $3.9 million, down a slight 16% from a week ago while losing 167 theaters. The Ron Howard-directed drama, which stars Russell Crowe, is in 1,795 theaters and has gleaned about $144.3 million domestically.

New Line's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" placed 10th with an estimated $2.6 million, slipping 22% after dropping 93 theaters, leaving the film in 1,210 venues. The epic adventure from director Peter Jackson has taken in an estimated $291.1 million.

Other films that placed in the top 10 this weekend were Buena Vista's "Return to Never Land," which placed sixth with an estimated $4.7 million, moving its total to about $41.7 million.

Universal's "Dragonfly" was seventh with $4.1 million in its third frame, dropping 38% from a week ago. The Kevin Costner starrer has grossed $24.9 million. The distributor's "Big Fat Liar" has proved a modest hit for the studio as the comedy grossed an estimated $3.4 million and landed in the ninth spot, advancing its total to about $43.3 million.

Warner Bros.' "Queen of the Damned" slipped into the 12th slot with an estimated $2.34 million, off a bleak 60% in its third frame, raising its cume to about $27.9 million.

This weekend's estimated total for the top 12 films was nearly $84 million, up substantially from last year's cume for the comparable frame, when DreamWorks' "The Mexican" was the top film with $12.2 million, followed by New Line's "15 Minutes" with $10.5 million. The Hollywood Reporter projects the total for all films this weekend to be in the low to mid-$100 million area, up considerably from last year's $75.5 million.

For the week ending March 7, the national boxoffice was up 17% from the comparable seven-day period a year ago ($138.8 million vs. $118.7 million), pushing the year-to-date total to a nearly 4% lead on last year's record boxoffice pace ($1.41 billion vs. $1.36 billion). Thanks to solid performances at the boxoffice in recent weeks, while estimated ticket units for the year to date are still slightly behind 2001, they have pulled to within less than 1% of last year's comparable cume.