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By Josh Wolk
Josh Wolk
Josh Wolk
Josh Wolk is a senior writer at EW and the author of ''Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desparate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor''

The remake of ''Psycho'' hardly slashed any box office records this weekend, opening in second place with a so-so estimated $10.5 million. Though the film had no advance screenings for critics, audiences probably knew enough about it (from the widespread publicity) to decide if they wanted to see it.

Coming in first (for the second week in a row) was ''A Bug's Life,'' which pulled in $17.4 million. Its total gross is now at $69 million, and although that's up from the second-week grand total of $64.7 million for ''Toy Story'' in 1995, ''Bug's Life'' did have a greater drop-off in its second weekend. (''Toy Story'' made $20.2 million during its second week.) ''I think it's a function of the weather,'' Buena Vista Pictures Distrbution president Phil Barlow told CNN's Martin Grove. ''They're in the 60s and 70s on the East Coast.... A good weekend across the country can cost us a couple or $3 million on a big picture.''

Before other studios start checking the mercury, they may want to remember that a rise in temperature doesn't always mean that ticket sales will go down. Even this weekend, the total gross for all key films was around $69.77 million, which is up 44% from the same weekend last year -- when the weather wasn't quite so balmy. (The other movies in this weekend's top 5 were ''Enemy of the State'' with $9.5 million, ''The Rugrats Movie'' with $8 million, and ''The Waterboy'' with $6.6 million.)

Want more details? See the latest box office chart.


Posted Dec 07, 1998 | Order Article Reprints