Home
Without much new competition, the teen football flick Varsity Blues ruled an uneven playing field last week, scoring with $10.6 million. The MTV production charged the top spot for the second week in a row and has already outearned the previous film directed by former Head of the Class star Brian Robbins, 1997's Good Burger, which ended up grossing under $24 million. The Sharon Stone remake of Gloria certainly didn't put up much of a fight, failing to crack the top 10. Neither did the romantic comedy-drama Playing by Heart, starring the original Gloria's Gena Rowlands, but it performed far better considering it's playing in far fewer theaters. As for two critical favorites that have been kicking around for a while: A Simple Plan got a terrific 950 percent boost as it gained 580 screens; The Thin Red Line retreated an alarming 41 percent in its second week of nationwide release.
TOP 20 WEEKEND WEEKS WEEKEND NO. OF PER-SITE IN GROSS TO GROSS* SITES[1] AVERAGE RELEASE DATE
1 VARSITY BLUES Paramount $10.6 2,339 $4,521 2 $30.8 2 PATCH ADAMS Universal $8.1 2,909 $2,785 5 $108.6 3 A CIVIL ACTION Touchstone $7.6 2,026 $3,775 5 $40.8 4 THE THIN RED LINE 20th Century Fox $5.8 1,538 $3,768 5 $22.3 5 STEPMOM Columbia $5.1 2,358 $2,182 5 $78.6 6 AT FIRST SIGHT MGM/UA $4.8 1,838 $2,605 2 $14.6 7 YOU'VE GOT MAIL Warner Bros. $4.1 2,331 $1,764 6 $104.1 8 THE PRINCE OF EGYPT DreamWorks $3.9 2,001 $1,962 6 $87.3 9 SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE Miramax $3.6 655 $5,541 7 $25.9 10 A SIMPLE PLAN Paramount $3.4 660 $5,185 7 $7.1 11 VIRUS Universal $3.0 2,015 $1,495 2 $10.0 12 A BUG'S LIFE Walt Disney $2.7 1,521 $1,789 10 $151.7 13 IN DREAMS DreamWorks $2.7 1,682 $1,606 2 $8.2 14 MIGHTY JOE YOUNG Walt Disney $2.6 1,773 $1,453 5 $43.4 15 GLORIA Columbia $2.1 1,527 $1,403 1 $2.1 16 WAKING NED DEVINE Fox Searchlight $1.9 506 $3,680 10 $14.7 17 PLAYING BY HEART Miramax $1.5 305 $5,016 4 $1.6 18 ENEMY OF THE STATE Touchstone $1.2 993 $1,214 10 $106.0 19 THE FACULTY Dimension $1.1 1,512 $700 5 $36.7 20 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL Miramax $1.1 213 $4,958 14 $15.8
SOURCE: EXHIBITOR RELATIONS CO. INC. WEEKEND OF JAN. 22-24 *WEEKEND GROSS AND GROSS-TO-DATE FIGURES IN MILLIONS [1] INCLUDES SOME MULTISCREEN THEATERS AND PRINTS SHIPPED AS WELL AS INDIVIDUAL SCREENS
