`MENACE' STILL GOING AT LIGHT SPEED.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer ``Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace'' became the 14th member of the elite quarter-billion-dollar club during the weekend as it continued to dominate business at the nation's multiplexes with an estimated $32.2 million at 3,023 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday Sunday: see Sabbath; week. . The fourth installment of the ``Star Wars'' saga has now taken in $255.5 million in 19 days and will likely crack the $400 million mark before it leaves theaters at the end of summer. ``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 ,'' which saw grosses fall 34 percent from the previous Friday-Sunday, is now the 12th highest grosser of all time and should pass ``Jaws'' at $260 million for the 11th spot today or Tuesday. ``These are very big numbers,'' declared Tom Sherak, 20th Century Fox's distribution chief. ``We obviously can't stay like that, but we're clearly going to wind up in the top five of all time.'' (Current No. 5 is ``Forrest Gump,'' at $329.5 million.) Sherak said audiences continue to be 59 percent male and that 15 percent of ``Phantom Menace'' attendees during the weekend had already seen the movie at least twice. Movie analyst Arthur Rockwell noted that ``Phantom Menace'' - which has probably sold slightly more than 50 million tickets - had clearly survived the mixed critical reception that emerged just before it opened. ``This movie is about as review-proof as they come,'' he added. ``All that negative buzz is history.'' Robert Bucksbaum, president of the Reel Source forecasting service, said ``Phantom Menace'' should take in somewhere between $375 million and $410 million and will benefit from the fact that about 74 percent of the nation's schools will have let out by next weekend. Final results for the Friday-Sunday period will be released today. QUARTER-BILLION CLUB ``Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace'' became the 14th film to cross the $250 million domestic mark on Sunday and could eventually reach $400 million. Members of the quarter-billion club: Film, studio, year of release, domestic gross 1. ``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, 1997, $600.8 million. 2. ``Star Wars,'' Fox, 1977, $460.9 million. 3. ``E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,'' Universal, 1982, $399.8 million. 4. ``Jurassic Park,'' Universal, 1993, $356.8 million. 5. ``Forrest Gump,'' Paramount, 1994, $329.5 million. 6. ``The Lion King,'' Disney, 1994, $312.8 million. 7. ``Return of the Jedi,'' Fox, 1983, $309.1 million. 8. ``Independence Day,'' Fox, 1996, $305.4 million. 9. ``The Empire Strikes Back,'' Fox, 1980, $290.2 million. 10 ``Home Alone,'' Fox, 1990, $285.8 million. 11. ``Jaws,'' Universal, 1975, $260 million. 12. ``Phantom Menace,'' Fox, 1999, $255.5 million. 13. ``Batman,'' Warner 1989, $251.2 million. 14. ``Men in Black,'' Sony, 1997, $250.2 million. THIS WEEK'S TOP MOVIES Estimated grosses for Friday through Sunday at North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. theaters: 1. ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,'' $32.2 million. 2. ``Notting Hill,'' $15 million. 3. ``Instinct instinct, term used generally to indicate an innate tendency to action, or pattern of behavior, elicited by specific stimuli and fulfilling vital needs of an organism. ,'' $10.2 million 4. ``The Mummy mummy, dead human or animal body preserved by embalming or by unusual natural conditions. As a rule mummies are from ancient times. The word is of Arabic derivation and refers primarily to the burials found in Egypt, where the practice of mummification was perfected ,'' $7.5 million. 5. ``Entrapment entrapment, in law, the instigation of a crime in the attempt to obtain cause for a criminal prosecution. Situations in which a government operative merely provides the occasion for the commission of a criminal act (e.g. ,'' $3.5 million. 6. ``The Matrix,'' $2.4 million. 7. ``The Thirteenth Floor The levels of a multi-story building are numbered sequentially, from "one" or "ground" upwards. In some countries, the number 13 is considered unlucky and building owners will sometimes purposely omit the thirteenth floor. ,'' $1.9 million. 8. ``Never Been Kissed Never Been Kissed is a 1999 comedy directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski, John C. Reilly, Jessica Alba, Marley Shelton, James Franco, Giuseppe Andrews, Jeremy Jordan and Garry Marshall. ,'' $1.7 million. 9. ``William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written sometime in the 1590s. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta, and ,'' $1.1 million. 10. ``Election,'' $900,000. CAPTION(S): 2 boxes Box: (1) Quarter-billion club (see text) (2) This week's top movies (see text) |
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