Heartbreakers Weekend - 3/23/01 to 3/25/01

1.Heartbreakers, $11.8 million (2,750 Theaters)
2.The Brothers, $10.3 million (1,378 Theaters)
3.Exit Wounds, $9.7 million
4.Enemy at the Gates, $8.2 million
5.Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, $4.6 million
6.The Mexican, $4.6 million
7.Traffic, $3.9 million
8.See Spot Run, $3.6 million
9.Chocolat, $3.3 million
10.Say It Isn't So, $2.8 million

The Final tally as of Tuesday, March 27, 2001

Sunday March 25 1:57 PM ET
'Heartbreakers' Beats Loudest at Box Office

By Dean Goodman - Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``Heartbreakers,'' a new mother-daughter con artist comedy, swindled its way to the top of the North American weekend box office, while the three ``best picture'' Oscar contenders in the top 10 posted strong results ahead of the Academy Awards (news - web sites) on Sunday evening.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday morning ''Heartbreakers'' (MGM), starring Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt, nabbed $12.3 million for the three-day period beginning on Friday. Fellow rookie ``The Brothers'' (Screen Gems), a relationships comedy revolving around four young black men, bowed at No. 2 with $10.7 million.

The top 10 contained one other new release, ``Say It Isn't So'' (Fox), an incest comedy starring Chris Klein and Heather Graham. It opened at No. 10 with $3.1 million, a figure termed ''disappointing'' by the studio's distribution president, Bruce Snyder. He said the subject matter may have scared off audiences. Fox, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's Fox Entertainment Group Inc., also bombed last month with the Brendan Fraser comedy ``Monkeybone.''

The top 12 films grossed $70 million, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, down 3 percent from last weekend and off 4 percent from the year-ago period when ``Erin Brockovich'' was tops for a second weekend.

Sunday March 25, 2001

'Heartbreakers' Tops Box Office

By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The romantic comedies ``Heartbreakers'' and ``The Brothers'' topped the box office, but Oscar contenders continued to do booming business on Academy Award weekend.

``Heartbreakers,'' starring Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt as a mother-daughter con team, opened at No. 1 with $12.3 million. ``The Brothers'' premiered in second place with $10.7 million, according to industry estimates Sunday.

``The marketplace can always use a good date film. These two movies offered a couple different ways to do that,'' said Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks box office figures. ``The romantic comedy is a mainstay ... and these really show that that genre is alive and well.''

``Heartbreakers'' attracted men and women, young and old.

``We were excited that it opened so well because it's really a word-of-mouth movie,'' producer John Davis said.

The only other new film in wide release was ``Say It Isn't So,'' starring Chris Klein and Heather Graham as lovers who mistakenly believe they are brother and sister. It opened to poor reviews and earned a meager $3.1 million for tenth place.

``The Brothers'' stars Morris Chestnut, Bill Bellamy, D.L. Hughley and Shemar Moore (of TV's ``The Young and the Restless'') as four successful men who must take stock of their lives when one becomes engaged.

The movie's excellent opening was due, in part, to soap opera fans who took dates to see it, and in part to a groundswell of support from the black community for a film that shows successful African-Americans dealing with real-life problems, said Valerie Van Gelder, executive vice president of marketing for Sony's Screen Gems, which distributed the film.

``There's an audience out there that's really, really hungry for this sort of thing,'' she said.

Oscar nominations continued to boost the fortunes of best-picture nominees even though the films have been out for months.

``Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' was in fifth place with $4.7 million. It picked up 167 more theaters and its ticket sales were up 15 percent.

``Traffic'' was at No. 7 with $3.9 million, up 14 percent.

``Chocolat,'' at No. 9, lost 120 theaters but only 4 percent of its gross to finish with $3.3 million. The movie's box office revenues have doubled in the weeks since it was nominated.

Overall, however, box office receipts were down for a third straight weekend. The top 12 movies grossed $70 million, slipping from $72.6 million in the previous weekend.

The take was down more than 4.4 percent from the same weekend last year, which was the second weekend for the hit ``Erin Brockovich.''

But overall, Dergarabedian said, the box office is up about 18 percent for the year.

``I think we're gonna rebound in a big way when the summer films start hitting,'' he said. ``This isn't anything to cry about.''

Several movies did well in limited release.

``Memento,'' a murder mystery about a man who cannot remember anything, opened with $234,005 on 12 screens. ``The Dish'' a highly praised Australian comedy, had $58,383 in six theaters, while ``American Desi,'' a romantic comedy set among second-generation India immigrants, had $282,000 in 37 theaters.

Sunday March 25, 2001

"Heartbreakers" Scams "Brothers"

It figures a couple of con artists would scam their way to the top of the box office.

The mom-daughter grifters comedy Heartbreakers opened with an estimated $12.3 million to take the weekend. But the second-place flick, the bros-on-the-make comedy The Brothers, actually had a much higher per screen average.

The babely duo of Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt tramped into 2,750 theaters with their Heartbreakers and the PG-13 rated MGM/UA release averaged $4,473 per screen. As for The Brothers, the R-rated Sony/Screen Gems film earned less--an estimated $10.7 million according to studio estimates--but played on far fewer screens (1,378) to average $7,765.

Though neither debut was impressive (Oscar weekend is traditionally slow), the newcomers pushed last week's leaders down. A long way down. Steven Seagal's comeback shoot-'em -up Exit Wounds hit a dead end, dropping 50 percent to earn $9.2 million in third place, while the WWII epic Enemy at the Gates dipped 39 percent to earn $8.4 million in fourth.

This weekend's other major opener, the gross-out comedy Say It Isn't So, starring Heather Graham and Chris Klein as possibly incestuous lovers, was a real cow. The Farrelly brothers-produced flick came in a disappointing 10th. The R-rated Fox release averaged $1,571 at 1,973 sites to sucked up a woeful $3.1 million.

Meanwhile, a trio of Best Picture contenders got a solid pre-Oscar boost. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the major winner at Saturday's Independent Spirit Awards, came in fifth place with $4.6 million. Traffic moved up three slots to seventh place with $3.9 million, while Chocolat remained in ninth with $3.3 million.