THIS WEEKEND The North American box office slumped to its lowest level of the year as a lack of marquee titles and the public's interest in the aftermath of Tuesday's terrorist attacks helped keep many moviegoers away from theaters. The weekend's two new releases, Hardball and The Glass House, enjoyed moderate openings while a number of holdover titles managed to suffer only slim declines.

Keanu Reeves clinched first place with the baseball film Hardball which led the box office with an opening weekend of $10.1M, according to estimates. The Paramount release about a man who coaches a group of inner-city little league baseball players entered 2,137 theaters and averaged a good $4,726 per location. The studio faced a unique challenge as much of Hardball's publicity and advertising was wiped out after Tuesday's tragedy, according to a Paramount spokesperson, as most major television networks switched to commercial-free news coverage around the clock.

Audiences responded well to the PG-13 film as those polled by CinemaScore gave it an A- grade. Hardball also witnessed a hefty 66% Friday-to-Saturday increase indicating strong weekend matinee business with families. With good word-of-mouth spreading and only one new film opening next weekend (Mariah Carey's Glitter), Paramount is expecting the $21M baseball film to show some strength in the weeks to come.

Weekend Box Office Remains Solid

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Americans returned to movie theaters in large numbers this weekend, and a slate of new films pushed box office earnings well ahead of the same weekend last year, according to industry estimates Sunday.

The Keanu Reeves drama ``Hardball,'' about an inner-city Little League team, opened at No. 1 with $10.1 million. That nearly equaled the swashbuckling adventure ``The Musketeer,'' which debuted in the top spot last weekend with $10.7 million.

Overall, the weekend box office returns were about 42 percent higher at than the same time last year, $54.1 million compared to $37.8 million.

In part, that reflected this year's costlier ticket prices.

However, while theaters were relatively empty on Friday, as many people watched news coverage of the terror attacks in New York and Washington, or participated in a day of remembrance, ``on Saturday, a lot of people pushed back out to go to the movies,'' said Rob Friedman, vice chairman of Paramount's motion picture group, which produced ``Hardball.''

``A lot of people wanted an escape,'' he said.

Kym Kerr went with a friend on Sunday to see ``O,'' a modern retelling of Shakespeare's ``Othello.''

``When you're home, it's impossible to not watch TV,'' said Kerr, 30, of Glendale, Calif. ``We're trying to think about anything else for a second.''

This weekend, ``The Musketeer'' fell to third place with $5.3 million. ``The Glass House'' a psychological thriller starring Leelee Sobieski, opened in second place with $6.1 million.

``There was a great amount of fear and apprehension about how the box office would shake up, but it appears there was no negative effect,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., which tracks movie earnings.

``Movies have always been a great diversion and relief for people,'' he added. ``This shows that still holds true.''

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations. Final figures are to be released Monday.

1. ``Hardball,'' $10.1 million.

2. ``The Glass House,'' $6.1 million.

3. ``The Musketeer,'' $5.3 million.

4. ``The Others,'' $4.8 million.

5. ``Two Can Play That Game,'' $4.7 million.

6. ``Rush Hour 2,'' $4.3 million

7. ``Jeepers Creepers,'' $3.8 million.

8. ``Rat Race,'' $3.62 million.

9. ``American Pie 2,'' $3.60 million.

10. ``Rock Star,'' $3.5 million

Americans play 'Hardball' in wake of tragic week

By Brian Fuson and Josh Spector

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- On the first weekend following Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, moviegoers turned out in relatively normal numbers, given that mid-September often marks a lull at the boxoffice.

Paramount's "Hardball," a PG-13 rated family film about an inner-city Little League team, directed by Brian Robbins and starring Keanu Reeves, took the top spot with an estimated $10.1 million. Sony's "The Glass House," a thriller starring Leelee Sobieski that opened in 546 fewer theaters than "Hardball," debuted in second place with an estimated $6.1 million.

Overall business was down Friday, probably because of observance of the national day of prayer and remembrance called for by President Bush (news - web sites), but rebounded Saturday -- with Sunday expected to follow suit.

Whether moviegoers were seeking to return to normalcy or just trying to escape the horrifying images permeating television, the estimate for the top 12 movies jumped nearly 43% from the comparable frame a year ago -- which was the lowest-grossing weekend of 2000. This weekend's top 12 took in an estimated $54.1 million, down 12% from the $61.5 million earned by the previous weekend's top 12.

In Los Angeles, the few moviegoers who made the trek to the multiplex echoed the same motivation: They were seeking a break from an emotionally draining week.

"I just felt like I needed to relax and get out of the house for a little while," said Peter Parungao, a Santa Monica College student who went to the Beverly Center on Saturday afternoon to see "Hardball." "They are just repeating the same news on TV."

Janel Rea, a Los Angeles resident who also went to see "Hardball" on Saturday afternoon, said she was not there simply to escape her TV set. "Ever since I saw the commercials for 'Hardball,' I wanted to come see it, so here I am," she said.

While such moviegoers might have prevented a dramatic decline at the boxoffice, exhibitors remain unsure of how the crisis will affect the industry.

"It hasn't been that drastic yet, but there has definitely been an impact," Cinemark USA vp marketing Terrell Falk said. "It remains to be seen how it will all play out -- will people get interested in movies again as things go back to normal?"

The short-term effect on the boxoffice does not seem to have exhibitors overly concerned -- this is traditionally a slow time of year for the business -- but Falk wondered if there could be long-term effects. "You have a lot of trailers for the big holiday movies which audiences would normally start to see around this time of year, and if they're not seeing them, that could have an impact down the road," he said.

Heartened by the opening of "Hardball," Paramount Motion Picture Group vice chairman Rob Friedman said: "It's a good family film -- very inspirational and emotional. It's a very appropriate movie right now." Friedman noted that the film's weekend gross was off slightly from the projected $13 million-$15 million that "Hardball" was tracking before Tuesday's attacks.

But Friedman was optimistic about the film's prospects. "Based on the superb exits and in light of the very limited competitive environment, I think we will have a great weekend next weekend," he said. Of the coming weekend's scheduled three wide releases, two -- Buena Vista's "Big Trouble" and Warner Bros.' "Training Day" -- have been postponed. Only Fox's "Glitter" remains on the schedule.

"Hardball" played 55%-58% female, and 55% of the audience was over the age of 25. It was a big draw Saturday for families, who comprised 50% of the matinee audience.

"Glass," which carried an estimated cost of $22 million, performed at the level Sony anticipated. "It's not an expensive picture," Columbia Pictures president of worldwide marketing and distribution Jeff Blake said. "It was targeted primarily at young females, with a moderate amount of prints and advertising, so we should come out fine."

The previous weekend's boxoffice champ, Universal's "The Musketeer," moved into the third spot with an estimated $5.3 million, down a harsh 49% from its debut. The action-adventure film has collected an estimated $17.6 million after 10 days.

Dimension's "The Others" moved up a notch to the fourth spot with an estimated $4.8 million, followed by Screen Gems' "Two Can Play That Game" with an estimated $4.7 million, down 39% from its debut.

The films that did best during the weekend were primarily comedies.

New Line's "Rush Hour 2," which declined by a relatively modest 24% despite losing 280 venues, captured the sixth slot with an estimated $4.35 million, moving its total to about $211.4 million. Paramount's "Rat Race" was off a scant 19% as its theater count dropped by 56. The comedy placed eighth with an estimated $3.63 million, moving its cume to about $47.8 million.

Universal's "American Pie 2" took the biggest slice in theater counts among the top comedies with 438 fewer locations but preserved a more-than-respectable 24% drop from the previous weekend. "Pie 2" grossed an estimated $3.6 million to take the ninth slot, raising its total to about $135.9 million. Buena Vista's "The Princess Diaries" earned an estimated $2.6 million, down a mild 23% with 255 fewer sites. The Garry Marshall-helmed comedy crossed the $100 million mark Sunday, becoming the 13th release this year to do so.

The lone exception to the comedy rule was "Others." The horror film starring Nicole Kidman dropped a modest 20% from the previous weekend, but unlike the top comedies, which all lost theaters, "Others" added 108 venues. Its cume stands at about $73.6 million.

Among debuts in the limited-release arena, Sony Pictures Classics' "Haiku Tunnel" opened in seven locations and grossed an estimated $39,341. The comedy averaged a solid $5,620 per theater and has taken in about $40,766 since its release in one theater in San Francisco on Thursday.

The sophomore frame of Paramount Classics' "Our Lady of the Assassins" added eight locations, bringing its count to 12, and tallied an estimated $54,000. The Barbet Schroeder-directed feature averaged $4,500 per theater and has collected about $126,000 to date.

The second weekend of "Soul Survivors" was similar to the first, grossing an estimated $550,000 from 604 theaters for a dismal per-theater average of $910. The cume stands at about $2 million.

National boxoffice during the week ending Sept. 13 rose 18% from last year's comparable seven-day period ($95 million vs. $80.4 million). The year-to-date total is holding steady with a 10% advantage on the comparable 2000 figure ($5.86 billion vs. $5.32 billion), while admissions are keeping pace with a 5% gain on last year's figure.

'Hardball' Tops Weekend Box Office

Americans appeared to take solace from last week's tragic event at the cinema this weekend, helping Keanu Reeves' new flick, Hardball , to the top of the box office.

Keanu Reeves Baseball Film Leads Box Office

From Yahoo! News - Reuters:
Keanu Reeves Baseball Film Leads Box Office
By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``Hardball,'' a new baseball melodrama starring Keanu Reeves, led the North American box office at the weekend, when overall ticket sales were surprisingly strong given the distraction of last Tuesday's terror attacks in New York and Washington.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, the top 12 films tallied $54 million for the three days beginning Friday, up 43 percent from the year-ago period, when ``The Watcher'' -- a thriller also starring Reeves -- was tops amid competition from the summer Olympic Games (news - web sites).

``It's obvious that some people are a little stir crazy and need to get out of the house,'' said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures

``Hardball'' grossed an estimated $10.1 million in its first three days of release, according to Paramount Pictures, which distributed the film in North America. A spokeswoman estimated the film could have made between $12 million and $15 million if it had not been for the attacks.

The box office is traditionally weak at this time of the year, when studios burn off modest releases before rolling out their big fall projects. Indeed this weekend's tally was the lowest of the year for the second consecutive weekend, off 12 percent from Sept. 7-9.

Overall business on Friday was weak because of memorial services and candlelight vigils, but it bounced back Saturday and was expected to be similarly strong Sunday, said Wayne Lewellen, Paramount's president of distribution. Final data for the three-day period will be released on Monday.

In ``Hardball,'' Reeves plays a baseball coach in inner-city Chicago. Paramount's publicity efforts were hampered by the television networks' commercial-free coverage of the attacks. Reeves had promoted ``Hardball'' at a press junket last weekend, but none of those stories have run yet, the Paramount spokeswoman said. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc. .

'Hardball,' a new baseball melodrama starring Keanu Reeves, led the North American box office at the weekend, when overall ticket sales were surprisingly strong given the distraction of last Tuesday's terror attacks in New York and Washington. In this photo, Reeves poses at the Los Angeles premiere of "Hardball", September 10, 2001 at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. (Jim Ruymen/Reuters)