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Studios basked in the glow of hot box office in 1997, watching moneymakers like The Lost World, Titanic, and Men in Black lead to a record year. If it felt familiar, that's no accident -- Hollywood made expert use of old material, reaping big bucks from '60s nostalgia (Austin Powers), the long-dead horror genre (Scream 2, I Know What You Did Last Summer), and spit-shined updates of the Star Wars trilogy. In fact, when you consider video and foreign markets, even some movies that smelled like flops performed well. Shock of the year: Speed 2, 1997's real boat-disaster movie, grossed $182 million. Here, the rest of the winners and sinners.
DOMESTIC FOREIGN VIDEO GRAND GROSS GROSS GROSS TOTAL (MILLIONS) (MILLIONS) (MILLIONS) (MILLIONS)
1 Men in Black $250.2 $326.6 $134.6 $711.4 2 Titanic* $242.7 $98.2 $340.9 3 The Lost World $229.1 $382.5 $166.5 $778.1 4 Liar Liar $181.4 $123.0 $103.3 $407.7 5 Air Force One $172.4 $133.9 $306.3 6 Star Wars (reissue)$138.3 $115.2 $60.9 $314.4 7 My Best Friend's Wedding* $126.8 $148.6 $74.8 $350.2 8 Face/Off $112.2 $116.0 $37.0 $265.2 9 Tomorrow Never Dies* $111.8 $139.5 $251.3 10 Batman & Robin $107.3 $130.0 $63.1 $300.4 11 George of the Jungle $105.3 $24.8 $91.8 $221.9 12 Con Air $100.9 $122.0 $42.1 $265.0 13 Contact $100.8 $75.0 $35.8 $211.6 14 Hercules* $99.1 $145.7 $244.8 15 Scream 2* $93.6 $93.6 16 Flubber* $87.2 $18.4 $105.6 17 Conspiracy Theory $76.1 $67.5 $35.1 $178.7 18 I Know What You Did...* $70.5 $12.2 $82.7 19 The Empire Strikes Back $67.6 $55.9 $60.9 $184.4 20 Dante's Peak $67.2 $111.0 $34.7 $212.9 21 As Good as It Gets* $66.8 $66.8 22 Anaconda $65.9 $71.3 $28.1 $165.3 23 The Fifth Element $63.8 $42.0 $28.9 $134.7 24 In & Out* $63.7 $10.2 $73.9 25 The Saint $61.4 $56.7 $27.6 $145.7 26 Jungle2Jungle $59.9 $20.4 $51.7 $132.0 27 Kiss the Girls* $59.7 $11.8 $71.5 28 Devil's Advocate* $59.1 $22.4 $81.5 29 Spawn $55.0 $21.4 $21.4 $97.8 30 Anastasia* $54.4 $11.4 $65.8 31 Starship Troopers* $54.3 $17.8 $72.1 32 Austin Powers $53.9 $21.6 $75.5 33 The Jackal* $53.8 $27.0 $80.8 34 Mouse Hunt* $52.0 $3.7 $55.7 35 Absolute Power $50.1 $13.2 $31.3 $94.6 36 Breakdown $50.1 $5.5 $25.0 $80.6 37 The Game $48.3 $38.0 $86.3 38 G.I. Jane $48.2 $34.9 $83.1 39 Speed 2: Cruise Control $48.1 $105.5 $28.4 $182.0 40 Volcano $47.5 $73.7 $28.4 $149.6 41 Alien Resurrection* $46.8 $65.4 $112.2 42 Return of the Jedi $45.5 $42.2 $60.9 $148.6 43 Bean* $45.2 $173.0 $218.2 44 Cop Land $44.9 $16.0 $60.9 45 The Rainmaker* $44.8 $44.8 46 Nothing to Lose $44.5 $17.1 $61.6 47 Soul Food $43.5 $43.5 48 The Devil's Own $43.0 $98.0 $28.2 $169.2 49 Donnie Brasco $42.0 $0.4 $24.9 $67.3 50 The Peacemaker $41.3 $57.5 $98.8 51 Private Parts $41.2 $19.4 $60.6 52 Money Talks $41.1 $1.6 $42.7 53 L.A. Confidential* $39.2 $34.0 $73.2 54 Seven Years in Tibet $37.6 $63.0 $100.6 55 Good Will Hunting* $37.3 $37.3 56 The Full Monty* $36.8 $148.6 $185.4 57 Jackie Brown* $36.6 $36.6 58 Vegas Vacation $36.4 $18.5 $54.9 59 Mortal Kombat: Annih.* $35.5 $2.6 $38.1 60 Selena $35.4 $6.1 $16.2 $57.7 61 Amistad* $35.0 $35.0 62 Addicted to Love $34.7 $16.9 $51.6 63 The Relic $34.0 $6.1 $18.1 $58.2 64 Metro $32.0 $42.4 $28.1 $102.5 65 Beverly Hills Ninja $31.5 $16.6 $48.1 66 Picture Perfect $31.1 $31.1 67 Fools Rush In $29.5 $15.1 $44.6 68 Romy and Michele's... $29.2 $18.3 $47.5 69 Fathers' Day $28.7 $19.5 $48.2 70 Grosse Pointe Blank $28.1 $15.2 $43.3 71 For Richer or Poorer* $28.0 $28.0 72 Out to Sea $28.0 $1.1 $18.3 $47.4 73 The Edge $27.8 $4.0 $31.8 74 Event Horizon $26.7 $17.0 $43.7 75 Home Alone 3* $26.5 $20.4 $46.9 76 Murder at 1600 $25.8 $22.2 $48.0 77 Mimic $25.5 $10.3 $35.8 78 The Little Mermaid* $25.2 $0.9 $26.1 79 Air Bud $24.6 $0.6 $25.2 80 Boogie Nights* $24.0 $24.0 81 An American Werewolf...* $23.9 $3.0 $26.9 82 Midnight in the Garden...* $23.9 $23.9 83 Good Burger $23.7 $23.7 84 Hoodlum $23.5 $23.5 85 Red Corner $22.4 $22.4 86 Booty Call $20.1 $11.6 $31.7 87 Gone Fishin' $19.7 $12.5 $32.2 88 That Darn Cat $18.3 $0.3 $11.6 $30.2 89 Mr. Magoo* $18.2 $18.2 90 Wag the Dog* $18.0 $18.0 91 The Postman* $16.9 $16.9 92 That Old Feeling $16.4 $3.3 $19.7 93 Fire Down Below $16.2 $12.3 $28.5 94 Wishmaster $15.7 $15.7 95 RocketMan $15.4 $15.4 96 The Sixth Man $14.7 $10.4 $25.1 97 First Strike $14.5 $6.3 $13.1 $33.9 98 Excess Baggage $14.4 $2.5 $16.9 99 Fairy Tale: A True Story* $14.0 $14.0 100 How to Be a Player $14.0 $14.0 101 Man Who Knew Too Little $13.7 $13.7 102 Eve's Bayou* $13.6 $13.6 103 Trial and Error $13.6 $12.9 $26.5 104 Rosewood $13.1 $8.4 $21.5 105 Love Jones $12.5 $0.3 $6.4 $19.2 106 Gattaca $12.3 $12.3 107 Chasing Amy $12.0 $4.1 $8.4 $24.5 108 Turbulence $11.5 $3.4 $16.9 $31.8 109 Beautician and the Beast $11.5 $1.4 $10.9 $23.8 110 Double Team $11.3 $37.4 $15.8 $64.5 111 Leave It to Beaver $10.8 $10.8 112 Mad City $10.6 $10.6 113 Operation Condor $10.4 $10.4 114 Buddy $10.1 $0.4 $10.5 115 Night Falls on Manhattan $9.9 $4.1 $9.5 $23.5 116 Shall We Dance? $9.6 $33.4 $43.0 117 Fierce Creatures $9.2 $31.9 $10.9 $52.0 118 The Wings of the Dove* $9.2 $1.2 $10.4 119 Ulee's Gold $8.6 $8.6 120 Mrs. Brown* $8.5 $4.4 $12.9 121 A Simple Wish $8.1 $1.3 $7.4 $16.8 122 Turbo: Power Rangers $8.1 $0.3 $20.0 $28.4 123 Deconstructing Harry* $8.0 $8.0 124 A Thousand Acres $7.9 $7.9 125 Sprung $7.6 $7.6 126 The Ice Storm* $7.5 $3.3 $10.8 127 Wild America $7.3 $19.5 $26.8 128 She's So Lovely $7.2 $4.7 $11.9 129 B.A.P.S $7.2 $6.5 $13.7 130 Zeus and Roxanne $7.2 $15.0 $22.2 131 U-Turn $6.7 $6.7 132 Switchback $6.5 $6.5 133 Warriors of Virtue $6.5 $8.4 $14.9 134 Most Wanted $6.3 $0.6 $6.9 135 Kull the Conqueror $6.1 $0.9 $7.0 136 Gang Related $5.9 $5.9 137 Inventing the Abbotts $5.9 $2.9 $5.4 $14.2 138 Kolya $5.8 $6.8 $1.3 $13.9 139 187 $5.7 $5.7 140 Gridlock'd $5.6 $8.8 $14.4 141 Dangerous Ground $5.1 $0.1 $7.3 $12.5
