'Cast Away' Sails to First

Dec. 24, 2000 -- For a castaway, Tom Hanks sure had a lot ofcompany over the holiday weekend.

Hanks’ new movie Cast Away, in which he plays a man strandedfor four years after a plane crash, took in $30.1 million this weekend to debut as the top film. The movie reunites Hanks and Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis.

Last weekend’s No. 1 movie, Mel Gibson’s What Women Want, slipped to second place with $16.3 million for the long weekend, pushing its total to $64.9 million in 10 days of release, according to studio estimates today.

Record Debut

Nicolas Cage’s comic fantasy The Family Man opened in thirdplace with with $12.8 million. Cage plays an unmarried Wall Streetbroker who gets a chance to see what his life would be like had hewed his college sweetheart.

Cast Away became the biggest movie debut for a Christmasweekend, surpassing the $25.3 million that Robin Williams’ PatchAdams grossed in 1998. It was Hanks’ second-best opening, just$500,000 behind Saving Private Ryan.

Studio executives said today’s estimates took more guessworkthan usual because it was hard to predict how many people wouldhead to the movies on Christmas Eve.

“These numbers are etched in Jell-O,” said Nikki Rocco, headof distribution for Universal, which released The Family Man.

Grinch Takes Home the Money

No. 4 was Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the year’s top-grossing movie. Its weekend take was $11.6 million,giving it a $232 million total.

The comedy Miss Congeniality, starring Sandra Bullock as atomboy FBI agent who goes undercover as a beauty pageantcontestant, premiered in fifth place with $10.3 million.

Ang Lee’s acclaimed adventure Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon jumped into the top 10. After two huge weekends in narrow release, the Mandarin-language film expanded to 141 theaters and grossed$2.8 million to finish at No. 10, averaging $19,748 per cinema.

Playing at 2,771 locations, Cast Away averaged $10,860 pertheater.

Hungry For Hollywood Entertainment

Overall, the top 12 movies grossed $110.2 million, up 17 percentfrom the same weekend last year. By next weekend, Hollywood isexpected to squeak past last year’s revenue record of $7.5 billion,though higher ticket prices mean movie attendance was down for2000, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office trackerExhibitor Relations.

The week or so before Christmas often is slow for theatersbecause people are busy with holiday shopping. But judging from bigopenings for What Women Want last weekend and now Cast Away, audiences seem hungry for the movies Hollywood is sending.

A rush of movies opened in limited release to qualify for theOscars. The Coen brothers’ modern take on “The Odyssey,” O Brother, Where Art Thou?, did $150,000 in just five theaters for a hefty $30,000 average.

The Gift, a psychic thriller starring Cate Blanchett,debuted Wednesday in one Los Angeles theater, taking in $16,000over its first five days.

Before Night Falls, a biography of Cuban writer ReinaldoArenas, opened with $60,000 in eight theaters for a $7,500 average.David Mamet’s Hollywood satire State and Main had a $400,000 debut in 72 cinemas for a $5,555 average.

Top Ten Holiday Weekend Movies 1. Cast Away — $30.1 million

2. What Women Want — $16.3 million

3. The Family Man — $12.8 million

4. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas — $11.6 million

5. Miss Congeniality — $10.3 million

6. The Emperor’s New Groove — $8 million

7. Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000 — $6.5 million

8. Dude, Where’s My Car? — $4.5 million

9. Vertical Limit — $4.4 million.

10. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — $2.8 million

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at NorthAmerican theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Finalfigures for the long Christmas weekend are to be released Tuesday.