`THE MUMMY' LEADS THE PACK IN 2ND WEEKEND.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer Action-adventure ``The Mummy'' continued to show plenty of life at the nation's multiplexes as it dominated for the second straight weekend with an impressive $25.1 million at 3,226 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday. The Universal release, recalling the feel of the Indiana Jones movies, lost 42 percent from its sensational $43.6 million debut weekend. ``That's a fairly solid performance, particularly since horror-type movies often don't have good legs,'' said movie analyst Arthur Rockwell. ``It should have one more good weekend even with the new `Star Wars' coming up.'' ``The Mummy,'' with Brendan Fraser battling an ancient evil priest in 1926 Egypt, has hit $80 million in 10 days and is headed toward joining the club of 60 films that have topped $150 million domestically. It is also well-positioned to become the likely choice for customers facing sold-out screenings of 20th Century Fox's ``Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'' after the prequel pre·quel n. A literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative takes place before that of a preexisting work or a sequel. [pre- + (se)quel.] opens early Wednesday. `` `The Mummy' was initially attracting teens and adults, but it's not drawing a lot of kids even though it's pretty scary,'' said Robert Bucksbaum, president of the Reel Source tracking service. ``It's going to be the main alternative to `Star Wars' because there's just not much else, particularly for kids.'' ``The Mummy'' has been the last major release prior to ``The Phantom Menace'' with studios largely abandoning the weekend to holdovers and a quartet of new niche films, which all finished in the top 10. Leading the rest of the slate was Fox's third weekend of ``Entrapment'' with a respectable $9.2 million at 2,878 theaters to push its 17-day total to $51.1 million. Fox Searchlight's opening of ``William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream'' followed in third with a moderate $4.6 million at 1,080 theaters as the latest version of the comedy, with Kevin Kline and Calista Flockhart Calista Kay Flockhart (born on November 11, 1964) is an Emmy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actress, primarily on soap operas and television. She is perhaps best known for playing the title character of Ally McBeal (1997 - 2002). , benefited from strong reviews. ``I has the advantage of being the only new film in wide release with a lot of appeal to women,'' Bucksbaum noted. Finishing a close fourth was Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .' seventh weekend of ``The Matrix'' with $4.5 million at 2,715 theaters as the science-fiction hit topped the $145 million mark after 47 days. ``The Matrix'' is already the 65th-highest domestic grosser ever, passing ``Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale (type 425C -- search for a lost husband -- in the Aarne-Thompson classification). The first published version of the fairy tale was a meandering rendition by Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in .'' Artisan's opening of martial-arts thriller ``Black Mask'' kicked in a lukewarm luke·warm adj. 1. Mildly warm; tepid. 2. Lacking conviction or enthusiasm; indifferent: gave only lukewarm support to the incumbent candidate. $3.9 million at 979 theaters to finish fifth, followed by Universal's fifth weekend of prison-comedy ``Life'' with $2.9 million at 2,240 theaters to top $55 million overall. Universal also reported strong response from its Saturday night sneak preview sneak preview n. A single public showing of a movie before its general release. Noun 1. sneak preview - a preview to test audience reactions of ``Notting Hill,'' a romantic comedy with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant slotted for a May 28 opening. Final results for the Friday-Sunday period will be released today. 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. ``The Mummy,'' $25.1 million. 2. ``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. ,'' $9.2 million. 3. ``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 ,'' $4.6 million. 4. ``The Matrix,'' $4.5 million. 5. ``Black Mask,'' $3.9 million. 6. ``Life,'' $2.9 million. 7. ``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. ,'' $2.6 million. 8. ``Trippin','' $2.5 million. 9. ``Election,'' $2.3 million. 10. ``Tea With Mussolini,'' $1.5 million. CAPTION(S): box Box: Top movies (see text) |
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