`MENACE' POSTING HEAVENLY FIGURES AT U.S. BOX OFFICE.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer The Force will clearly be with moviegoers for several more months at the nation's multiplexes, where it continues to dominate business and break records. ``Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'' showed impressive staying power with an amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. $64.8 million at 3,023 theaters during the Friday through Memorial Day holiday weekend, pushing its 13-day total to $205 million, studio sources said Monday. The four-day total, which matched last weekend's Friday to Sunday take, made ``Phantom Menace'' the 24th highest domestic grosser ever as it edged past ``Terminator (1) A character that ends a string of alphanumeric characters. (2) A hardware component that is connected to the last peripheral device in a series or the last node in a network. 2: Judgment Day.'' ``These are great numbers,'' declared Tom Sherak, 20th Century Fox's distribution chief. ``There was beautiful weather everywhere, so we think we did very well this weekend.'' Sherak said the audiences have been 59 percent male with many children being accompanied by their fathers. He added it's likely that many adults have delayed seeing ``Phantom Menace MENACE. A threat; a declaration of an intention to cause evil to happen to another. 2. When menaces to do an injury to another have been made, the party making them may, in general, be held to bail to keep the peace; and, when followed by any inconvenience or ,'' the fourth installment in George Lucas' saga, until the long lines In communications, circuits that are capable of handling transmissions over long distances. become shorter. Movie analyst Arthur Rockwell agreed that ``Phantom Menace'' should continue to perform well, noting that many theaters have booked the movie for eight weeks. ``I think there are a lot of moviegoers who want to see it but feel like there's still no rush,'' he said. ``The word of mouth has been very good, and theater owners who booked it are breathing a sigh sigh (sī), n an audible and prolonged inspiration followed by a shortened expiration. sigh of relief.'' With moviegoing expected to continue at a scorching scorch v. scorched, scorch·ing, scorch·es v.tr. 1. To burn superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. pace during June as schools let out, ``Phantom Menace'' has a clear shot at becoming one of the top three movies ever. ``Titanic's'' $600.8 million domestic gross is likely to remain out of reach but the $460.9 million taken in by the original ``Star Wars'' and the $399.8 million for ``E.T. - The Extraterrestrial'' could be topped. On Monday, ``Phantom Menace'' broke the 3-year-old record set by ``Independence Day'' for fewest days needed to pass $200 million by eight days. It took in $13.3 million on Friday, $18.8 million on Saturday, $18.2 million on Sunday and a projected $14.5 million on Monday. It so dominated the box office that the combined total of the next nine films fell $2 million short of matching the four-day take even with an impressive $27.8 million opening for Universal's ``Notting Hill'' at 2,745 theaters. Prospects for the well-reviewed romantic comedy, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, also appear strong with the studio reporting that 76 percent of those surveyed would ``definitely recommend'' the movie, far above industry averages. Universal also posted solid results for its fourth weekend of ``The Mummy'' in third place with $12.7 million at 3,399 theaters, pushing it past $117 million to 125th on the all-time list over ``The Towering Inferno Towering Inferno may refer to
The weekend's major disappointment came from Sony's opening of virtual-reality thriller thrill·er n. One that thrills, especially a sensational or suspenseful book, story, play, or movie. thriller Noun ``The Thirteenth Floor'' in fifth place with a feeble fee·ble adj. fee·bler, fee·blest 1. a. Lacking strength; weak. b. Indicating weakness. 2. Lacking vigor, force, or effectiveness; inadequate. See Synonyms at weak. $4.3 million at 1,815 theaters. Final results for the Friday-Monday period will be released today. SPEEDY FORCE ``Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'' broke the record for fewest days to cross the $200 million mark on Monday. The six fastest films: 1.``Phantom Menace,'' Fox, May 19, 1999, 13 days 2. ``Independence Day,'' Fox, July 2, 1996, 21 days 3. ``Jurassic Park,'' Universal, June 11, 1993, 23 days 4. ``Titanic Titanic (tītăn`ĭk), British liner that sank on the night of Apr. 14–15, 1912, after crashing into an iceberg in the N Atlantic S of Newfoundland. More than 1,500 lives were lost. ,'' Paramount, Dec. 19, 1997, 25 days 5. ``Men In Black,'' Sony, July 2, 1997, 30 days 6. ``The Lost World,'' Universal, May 23, 1997, 30 days CAPTION(S): Box BOX: SPEEDY FORCE (See text) |
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