USA: FILM MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 TAKES OVER 70 MILLION DOLLARS OVER HOLIDAY WEEKEND FROM EAGER MOVIE GOERS

Record ID: 389403

  • Title: USA: FILM MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 TAKES OVER 70 MILLION DOLLARS OVER HOLIDAY WEEKEND FROM EAGER MOVIE GOERS
  • Date: 26th May 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 26, 2000) (REUTERS) SV PEOPLE ENTERING MOVIE THEATRE
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, US / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Business,General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC1T829L5Z6ZFSO4DZXU10B3IH
  • Story Text: Mission impossible? Apparently not for superstar actor Tom Cruise, whose "M:I-2" kicked up a storm at the North American box office, helping Hollywood set several industry records over the long holiday weekend.
    Tom Cruise and "Mission Impossible 2" garnered the second biggest Memorial Day weekend haul in history pulling in 8 million (U.S.) dollars over the four-day holiday.
    Finishing second only to 1997s "Jurassic Park" sequel "The Lost World" which made 90.7 million (U.S.) dollars over the same period.
    "M:I-2" propelled the top 12 box office performers, known as the "Golden Dozen", to several box office records, with more than 171 million (U.S.) dollars in sales.Memorial Day weekend 2000 is officially the biggest box office weekend in history, supplanting 1999s 4th of July weekend tally of 165.3 million (U.S.) dollars.The previous high for a memorial day weekend was the 148.3 million (U.S.) dollars made in 1997.
    Add it all up and Hollywood is on its way to a record summer.
    "I think the record will stand for a pretty long time,"
    said industry analysts Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations in Los Angeles."Because what you had this memorial day weekend versus others is you had a real depth to the box office.The top five films performed incredibly and you had five films in double digits, each well over 10 million (U.S.) dollars."
    Rounding out the top five were: Disney's "Dinosaur", with 32 million (U.S.) dollars; Jackie Chan's "Shanghai Noon", pulling in nearly 20 million (U.S.) dollars in its debut weekend; Russell Crowe's "Gladiator", with 17 million (U.S.) dollars; and Dreamwork's "Road Trip", with 13.5 million (U.S.) dollars.
    Fans across America flocked to see the first time teaming of actor Tom Cruise and director John Woo.
    "Tom Cruise really is the "go-to" guy when it comes to summer movies," said Dergarabedian, "If you put him in a big action movie.And, that's the key, you really need to put him in a big action film, something where he can bring in the widest possible audience.Men and women like to see his movies, especially if they're action-oriented.Also, beyond that, you had (director) John Woo, who has his own following in the United States.And, you put that all together and you have a recipe for a record breaker."
    "M:I-2" has totaled 91.8 million (U.S.) dollars since its release last Wednesday (May 24) and is expected to eclipse the 100 million (U.S.) dollar during its seventh or eighth day of release, tying it with either "Independence Day" or "Men In Black" for the third or fourth fastest film to do so."The Phantom Menace" and "The Lost World" hit the century mark in 5 and 6 days respectively.
    Not faring so well was the big-budget John Travolta bust "Battlefield Earth" which managed a little over 1 million (U.S.) dollars for the four days.
    "It's hard to say what would have happened with "Battlefield Earth"", said Dergarabedian, "Certainly, if the critics hadn't bashed the film so terribly it might have done better at the box office.Usually though, the average filmgoer knows what they want to see and they go to see it, regardless of the critics.You know, there are always casualties in the summer.It's a very competitive time."
    Among the movies pushing ahead of "Battlefield Earth" was Woody Allen's latest effort, "Small Time Crooks"."Crooks"
    found itself in a surprisingly strong sixth place for the holiday period, with a gross of approximately 3.9 million (U.S.) dollars, bringing its total to nearly 9 million (U.S.) dollars since debuting just two weeks ago.This is the highest opening gross for any of Allen's films.
    So, what does all of this mean for the rest of the summer? "I think this top 5 will sustain, at least for the next couple of weeks," said Dergarabedian, "Then, you'll have more movies opening and then, I think, you're going to have a really strong 4th of July weekend starting out with "The Patriot" on June 28th.Then that will lead into that long weekend that will also include "The Perfect Storm" and "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle".Then, you have the 4th of July on a Tuesday, so you may end up with a period running from that Wednesday (June 28) through Tuesday (July 04) of people on vacation looking for something to do.And, I think by that time those films will come into play and boost the box office again.
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