'PILLOW TALK RELOADED': FOX VS. WARNER BROS. STUDIO COUNTER PROGRAMS AGAINST 'MATRIX' SEQUEL.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Well, something has to open this weekend against ``The Matrix Reloaded.''

The Warner Bros. sequel starring Keanu Reeves is widely expected to the summer's biggest box-office hit. But rival 20th Century Fox is vying to capture a segment of moviegoers outside the action demographic with ``Down With Love,'' a retro-romantic comedy starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor that couldn't be more different than ``Matrix.''

``It's not so much about going up against 'Matrix' as it is about there being a vacuum for female-driven movies over the last month or so,'' said Bruce Snyder, Fox's president of distribution. ``There's plenty of room in the marketplace.''

In recent weeks, the counterprogramming strategy has proven successful for films like ``Daddy Day Care'' and ``The Lizzie Maguire Movie,'' two family-oriented films that fared well despite being released in the shadow of current box-office juggernaut, ``X2: X-Men United.''

Last weekend, ``Daddy Day Care,'' a family comedy starring Eddie Murphy, had a stellar opening of $27.6 million. Most weeks, that would be high enough to claim the top box office spot, but the Sony Pictures Entertainment release was up against the second weekend of the red-hot ``X2,'' which held on to first place with a gross of $40 million.

``It's always intimidating to go into something knowing that you'll probably be No. 2,'' said Jeff Blake, Sony's president of worldwide marketing and distribution. ``It does take a mind-set to focus on maximizing your opportunities despite the fact that you probably won't be No. 1 because No. 1 often gets all the attention.''

When an underdog film faces off against a blockbuster, Blake said, it is important that filmmakers and actors know about the counterprogramming strategy and to make sure the film ``is being recognized as being successful despite being No. 2.''

``You don't want to be perceived as anything less than a success,'' he said.

It was Disney that initially squared off against ``X2'' two weekends ago. While ``X2'' wound up achieving the fourth-largest opening of all time ($85.6 million), Disney's ``Lizzie Maguire'' film was also a big winner with an opening weekend gross of $17.3 million. The big-screen adaptation of the popular Disney Channel show slipped to third place last weekend and has earned a solid $26.5 million so far.

The thinking behind the seemingly risky release dates is that the underdog films will be drawing from completely different audiences at a time when business at the multiplexes is beginning to boom again.

Robert Bucksbaum, president of ReelSource Inc., a box office analysis firm, said the decision by Fox to put ``Down With Love'' in theaters the same weekend as the massive ``Matrix'' could result in smiles at both Warner Bros. and Fox.

``The formula usually works,'' Bucksbaum said of counterprogramming.

``For people deciding which movie to see, all of the men are going to want to see 'Matrix,' while older women will say, I don't feel like doing that. What's the alternative? It's a smart move on (Fox's) part to get it out.''

Sometimes, films geared toward a female audience can show surprising strength. That was the case a year ago when ``The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'' opened with an impressive $16.1 million gross, burying the Tim Allen testosterone flick ``Bad Company,'' which was expected to dominate the weekend.

Snyder has the same kind of high hopes for ``Down With Love,'' which he describes as ``a date movie.'' Set in the 1960s, it pays homage to the classic Doris Day-Rock Hudson romantic comedies of that era.

``We hope it will succeed as counterprogramming,'' he said. ``We'll know by next Monday if it did.''

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(color) Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger will go up against a box-office powerhouse this weekend when their romantic comedy ``Down With Love'' gets programmed against Keanu Reeves in ``The Matrix Reloaded.''