'ABOUT A BOY' REFLECTS NICHE MARKETING SUCCESS.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

He doesn't wear blue-and-red tights or wield a lightsaber. In fact, you could call Hugh Grant the anti-superhero, capable of holding his own at the box office no matter how daunting the competition.

On Friday, Grant's latest film, ``About a Boy,'' expanded into 1,700 theaters after a solid first-week showing. It was the lone major studio film that dared to challenge ``Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones'' on its opening weekend.

And that wasn't the first time the lanky Brit has taken on the Force in a classic case of counterscheduling. Grant teamed with Julia Roberts in 1999's ``Notting Hill,'' managing to open with an impressive $27 million at the box office against the second week of ``Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,'' the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time.

``It's very difficult when everyone is talking about 'Star Wars' and 'Spider-Man' because you are really facing an uphill battle,'' said Robert Bucksbaum, president of Reel Source, a box office research market firm.

``But if you don't think you've got a $100 million movie, why not put something out for adults, women or kids?''

This effort at niche marketing has been somewhat successful in recent weeks with adults. Films like ``About a Boy'' and 20th Century Fox's ``Unfaithful'' have managed solid returns at the multiplex in the shadow of ``Clones'' and ``Spider-Man,'' already two of the biggest blockbusters of any year.

DreamWorks bravely joined the fray this weekend with its sights fixed squarely on kids and families. Through its animated feature ``Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,'' the studio is targeting little girls in its marketing, leaving the boys to Spidey and Yoda.

``Rather than focus on an area well-supplied, we focus heavily on girls,'' said Brad Globe, head of DreamWorks Consumer Products. ``It's a gigantic moviegoing weekend, and it launches the summer. Kids are out of school, and we have four days to get out there.''

Bucksbaum believes that DreamWorks was smart to open ``Spirit'' during Memorial Day weekend.

``It's an excellent time to release a family movie,'' he said. ``Families like to stick together, and there hasn't been a family movie since 'Ice Age.'''

Also new to theaters are the female-skewing ``Enough'' starring Jennifer Lopez and the adult drama, ``Insomnia'' starring a trio of Oscar winners: Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.

``There's usually somewhere that you can sneak in and grab an audience that isn't interested in the blockbuster,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. ``What you try to do when you counterprogram is try to play to your competition's weakness, though it may be hard to find.''

Especially when the blockbuster it is competing against on opening weekend happens to be ``Spider-Man.'' The Columbia Pictures release about the web-slinging superhero broke numerous box office records on its way to recording a historic $114.8 opening weekend. It obliterated the two other new releases aimed at the adult demographic: MGM's street gang drama ``Deuces Wild'' ($2.7 million opening) and Woody Allen's latest effort, ``Hollywood Ending'' which bowed with an anemic $2 million weekend and went downhill from there.

``The direct approach which has worked in the past really didn't pan out very well in this case,'' Dergarabedian said. ``But who knew that 'Spider-Man' would be that big and cross into every demographic? You almost couldn't counterprogram against it.''

But during the second weekend of ``Spider-Man,'' 20th Century Fox released ``Unfaithful.'' The adult drama starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere managed to gross an impressive $14 million during its first weekend then took in an additional $10 million during its second weekend against ``Clones,'' another Fox release.

``It's interesting that they are both Fox movies,'' said Bucksbaum. ``They know that it's a different audience.''

Universal's ``About A Boy'' not only made its bow directly against ``Clones,'' but also against a third weekend of a still-robust ``Spider- Man.'' It managed a respectable $8.5 million on slightly more than 1,200 screens, a modest release when compared with the 3,000 theaters or more that most blockbusters debut on.

``The plan here was always one of counterprogramming,'' said Jeff Saxon, Universal Films' senior vice president of national publicity. ``We felt like this was a movie that was for a different audience than the audience that would be going to those big summer movies.''

Universal has targeted females and the 25 and older crowd in its marketing and has also basked in exceptionally positive reviews.

``It was a movie that needed word-of-mouth and fantastic reviews,'' Saxon said. ``You get champions for it and get people to tell their friends.''

Dergarabedian believes the rave reviews for ``About A Boy,'' particularly about Grant's performance as a single, hip Londoner who is taught to act like a grown-up by a little boy, will help Universal succeed in its risky strategy and give the film a long box office life.

``There are a lot of moviegoers grateful to counterprogramming even though it takes a studio with a lot of nerve to go directly up against one of the behemoths,'' he said. ``It can be tough on the studios, but sometimes it can pay off.''

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Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette and Hugh Grant star in ``About a Boy,'' which expanded to 1,700 theaters after a solid firstweek against ``Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.''