Box Office: Home Run for Hardball
September 16 -- There's nothing more American than baseball. With Major League play suspended on the first weekend after tragic terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., moviegoers celebrated the national pastime at the nation's movie houses.
The ballpark melodrama Hardball was a home run for distributor Paramount, racking up a first-weekend gross of approximately $10.1 million to lead all films in release, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations.
In addition to reflecting the current climate of fervent patriotism, Hardball's win provided further affirmation of the durable appeal of everydude Keanu Reeves. As he's demonstrated even with such critically lambasted films as The Watcher and Sweet November, the characteristically laidback star has an uncanny knack for drawing audiences on opening weekend.
Second place went to the weekend's other major new release, the domestic thriller The Glass House, which made a surprisingly strong debut with an estimated $6.1 million gross. Curiously, both House and Hardball feature supporting performances by actress Diane Lane — memo to Ms. Lane's agent: Act now, you may never have it this good again.
Grosses for last weekend's No. 1 movie, The Musketeer, dipped by roughly 50 percent, but the swashbuckling action flick was still tops among holdovers, taking in approximately $5.3 million to finish third.
Others Still Expanding, No Love For That GameEither Miramax is calling in favors like nobody's business, or exhibitors have been fatally starstruck by Nicole Kidman. After its run was expanded by just 21 sites last weekend, it appeared that The Others might finally be on the way out.
Reports of its demise were proven greatly exaggerated, however, as the arty haunted house chiller added an additional 106 theaters on Friday, meaning that it is now playing in a blockbuster-worthy 2,843 theaters (amazingly, the only film currently showing at more U.S. theaters is Jeepers Creepers, which has The Others beat by just four sites). Accordingly, the summer's sleeper sensation rose to the No. 4 rank from last weekend's fifth-place finish with an estimated take of $4.8 million.
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