‘What Lies Beneath’ Comes Up a Winner

The summer box office rally continued over the weekend with two additional strong entries, “What Lies Beneath” and “Pokemon 2000,” but the box office proved not to be infinitely expandable as many of the other films in the top 10 dropped 40% or more, particularly “X-Men.”

“What Lies Beneath” didn’t exactly wow the critics, but by targeting the female audience in a male-heavy summer, managed to rise to the top with a $30.1-million debut on 2,813 screens. Even with big-name stars such as Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, though, that’s less than “The Haunting,” which debuted to $33.4 million the same weekend last summer. The DreamWorks/Fox co-production sold more than 60% of its tickets to women, and almost two-thirds of the audience was age 25 and older, according to DreamWorks distribution head Jim Tharp. Even if the $30-million figure may be a little on the high side, according to competing estimates, as with “The Perfect Storm” it represents another strong debut for a film attracting mainly older patrons. With a solid opening weekend base and 90% approval from exit surveys, “Beneath” should eventually filter down to younger patrons.

With kids in the middle of summer recess and a paucity of appealing G-rated films, “Pokemon 2000” was able to rack up an impressive estimate of $21.5 million in its first weekend in 2,752 theaters, good enough for third place. But it reflects a loss of steam for the franchise since “Pokemon: The First Movie,” which opened on a Wednesday last November, grossed $31 million over its first weekend and $50.8 million during its first five days in release. Since the first film demonstrated that the most rabid Pokemon enthusiasts arrived on the first weekend, it’ll be interesting to see how much of an audience is left in subsequent weeks.

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Speaking of which, “X-Men” seems to be adhering to that kind of attendance pattern. After breaking several records in its debut last weekend, the Marvel Comics adaptation fell a full 56% to a still-winning estimate of $23.7 million in 3,101 theaters. As with the “Star Trek” movies, the first-weekend (and particularly the first-night) crush of devoted fans was so intense that the movie inevitably declined steeply in its second weekend. Depending on how well it holds, “X-Men” could either follow the “Star Trek” model and quickly fade or settle into a longer run, more along the lines of “The Matrix” (which eventually grossed about $170 million). Still, a $99.5-million berth after just 10 days is a cushy place to be and enough to warrant future installments. When it hits $100 million today, “X-Men” will be the eighth film of the year to do so, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Of the other new arrivals, the less said the better. The self-designated teen comedy “Loser” backed in to a meager $6.1 million in its debut on 2,016 screens. Another youth-oriented film, “The In Crowd,” was out in the cold with $1.5 million or less predicted in its first weekend on 1,357 screens, not even making the top 10. Total since the film’s Wednesday debut is a running-on-empty $2.7 million.

But with three movies grossing $20 million or more, the top 12 films netted an estimated $130 million for the third weekend of July, by Exhibitor Relations’ calculations. That’s about 14% ahead of last year and only about 10% behind last weekend’s sizzling results. Box office totals for the summer are playing catch-up with last year as the season heads into the home stretch. And the next two weekends should bring more booty with the Eddie Murphy sequel to “The Nutty Professor” arriving on Friday and, a week later, the thriller “Hollow Man,” the raunchy comedy “Coyote Ugly” and Clint Eastwood’s “Space Cowboys.”

“Scary Movie” continues as the summer’s big hit comedy, with a $14.9-million estimate in 3,201 theaters and a hefty three-week total of more than $116 million. It is poised to surpass “Good Will Hunting” ($138 million) as Miramax’s highest-grossing movie ever.

Still on course after a month at sea is “The Perfect Storm,” which dropped to a still navigable $9.5 million estimate in 3,203 theaters and a catch of $145.2 million to date, making it the summer’s third-highest-grossing film.

“Disney’s The Kid” is one of the few movies in the top 10 to keep its drop-off as low as 33%, with about $7 million in 2,343 theaters. The Bruce Willis comedy has now amassed almost $43 million and should end up in the same neighborhood as his spring vehicle, “The Whole Nine Yards.”

Mel Gibson was running right behind Willis in “The Patriot,” though he’s starting to get winded with just $6.1 million in weekend four on 2,751 screens and $93.3 million to date. Eyes are now on the $100-million prize for next weekend.

“Chicken Run” was feeling a little cooped up by “Pokemon,” roping 39% to a still tasty $4.8 million on 2,577 screens and a five-week grand total of $86.2 million.

In 10th place and headed out is “Me, Myself and Irene,” which on 2,450 screens grossed about $3.1 million. After five weeks the Jim Carrey comedy has sold $83 million in tickets.

Among limited runs, the Canadian drama “The Five Senses” premiered over the weekend in Los Angeles, which accounted for more than half of its $41,000 weekend estimate in six theaters. Total after two weeks is $84,000.