Holdovers Bury 'treasure'

Heading into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, industry expectations were running high as several strong holdovers — and five new wide releases that appealed to a broad range of demographics — were hoping to take the boxoffice to record heights. But in the aftermath, there was precious little to be thankful for regarding the performance of those films as the majority of the debuts proved mediocre to depressing.

Most of what magic there was at the boxoffice this Thanksgiving weekend — only the fourth-biggest ever recorded for the holiday — was conjured up by Warner Bros. Pictures' "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" as the fantasy-adventure film levitated back into the top spot after a one-week absence.

"Chamber" pulled in an estimated $32.2 million during the three days, beating MGM's James Bond installment "Die Another Day," which debuted in the top spot a week earlier. "Chamber" slipped a mild 24% in its third frame as its 17-day total vaulted to an estimated $200.2 million. The film took only two days longer than the first "Harry Potter" film to reach $200 million.

"Die" moved into the No. 2 spot with a three-day estimate of $31 million, off a modest 34% from its opening. The film soared past the $100 million mark in 10 days as its cume reached an estimated $101.6 million. Internationally, Agent 007 continued to break records and pulled in an estimated $30 million from 10 markets, upping its overseas total to about $60 million.

In the battle of the five-day holiday grosses, "Die" bested "Chamber" by a slim margin with an estimated $46.3 million versus $45.8 million, respectively.

Buena Vista's "The Santa Clause 2" caught on with holiday audiences in a big way as the Tim Allen starrer surged 20% in its fifth session, taking in an estimated $12.3 million and upping its total to about $113.9 million. The surge is all the more impressive considering it was in 725 fewer theaters than last weekend and there was considerable competition for the family demographic.

Heading into the weekend, "Santa's" biggest competition for the family audience besides "Chamber" was thought to be the Walt Disney Co.'s "Treasure Planet," the latest $100 million-plus animated feature from Buena Vista. But the film's boxoffice treasure proved to be lead instead of gold as it placed fourth with a disappointing three-day estimate of $11.9 million and has dug up $16.5 million since its release Wednesday — the worst opening in recent history for a major Disney animated release.

The "Treasure" debut falls in line with the infamous opening of 20th Century Fox's "Titan A.E.," which took in $9.7 million its first weekend, and Sony's "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," which opened to $11.4 million. Both films were animated sci-fi adventures. The dismal opening of "Treasure" points out the weakness of the holiday session overall as it was the highest-grossing debut of the weekend.

But one uplifting result of the holiday session was that with this weekend's total included, the year-to-date national boxoffice is in record territory and has surpassed the total boxoffice for all of last year, which was a then-record $8.41 billion.

The most surprising performance of the session's newcomers was Sony's "Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights," a PG-13 animated film that took in an estimated $10.1 million to place fifth and collected about $15.1 million for the five days. The comedy came in higher then expected at the boxoffice and nearly matched the debut performance of the much more expensive "Treasure."

Another sci-fi disappointment this weekend was Fox's "Solaris," which debuted in the seventh slot with a bleak estimate of $6.8 million — and $9.5 million for the five-day period. Despite its solid pedigree — it stars George Clooney, was directed by Steven Soderbergh and produced by James Cameron — the picture failed to spark with audiences.

Dimension's "Wes Craven Presents: They" performed moderately compared with the frame's other debuts, opening in the ninth slot with a not-so-scary estimate of $5.7 million. "They" has taken in roughly $8 million since its Wednesday opening.

Paramount Pictures' "Extreme Ops" was the weekend's other wide release. The sports-actioner, picked up by the studio for a distribution fee, was in the 14th slot with a frigid estimate of $2.3 million and $3.1 million for its five-day cume.

The sophomore weekend of Universal's "The Emperor's Club" was hopeful as the Kevin Kline starrer felt only a meager 5% drop from its debut. The drama was in the 12th slot with an estimated $3.7 million, bringing its total to about $9.4 million.

Not surprisingly, comments from and the moods of distribution executives regarding the holiday weekend mirrored how their respective films performed in the marketplace.

Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros., said of "Chamber": "We continue to be the first choice of family moviegoers, and we're playing to all demographics. The only difference (from the first 'Potter' film) is we have a better audience reaction on this film."

Reacting to the discouraging debut of "Treasure," Chuck Viane, president of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, said: "We got off to a much slower start than we anticipated. Why it didnot do better at the boxoffice is a mystery to me because the film plays so well. It scored strongly in exits, and audiences gave it high marks. Our challenge is to keep it in the marketplace during the competitive Christmas holidays."

Executives at Sony were understandably upbeat regarding the debut of "Eight Crazy Nights," which carried a relatively low negative cost of $34 million. "It was a fun riff on the holidays, and we've grossed close to half of the negative cost. And it should be a perennial holiday movie, so it turned out just fine for us," said Jeff Blake, Columbia Pictures' president of worldwide marketing and distribution.

Blake also was high on the marks "Maid in Manhattan" generated in 424 sneaks Friday. The romantic comedy, starring Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes and directed by Wayne Wang, had nearly 90% in the top two boxes and drew 90% capacity. The audience skewed 60% female, but Blake noted that he was surprised and pleased that so many men came along. The Revolution Studios production sneaks again Friday and opens Dec. 13.

Executives at Fox were subdued in regard to the opening of "Solaris," which was produced by Lightstorm Entertainment. "It's a bit disappointing considering all the positive reviews the film received," Fox president of domestic distribution Bruce Snyder said. "We're hoping that people will find some time for an intelligent movie as we go towards the holidays."

Miramax's "Rabbit-Proof Fence" opened in nine locations this weekend and grossed about $92,000. The Australian drama, helmed by Phillip Noyce, averaged a solid $10,222 per theater.

The estimated three-day total for the top 12 films during the holiday frame was $137 million, down 4% from Thanksgiving weekend last year. The Hollywood Reporter projects the total for all films this weekend to be in the low-to-mid $140 million range. The biggest Thanksgiving weekend ever recorded was in 2000 with $176.7 million, followed by 1999 with $160 million and last year with $152.1 million.

For the week ending Nov. 28, the national boxoffice was down 2% from the comparable seven-day period last year ($250.1 million versus $255 million), as the year-to-date total holds a nearly 15% lead ($8.3 billion versus $7.23 billion). Estimated ticket units hold a 12% increase on last year at this time.