‘Cop Land’ Outweighs Competition

OK, so he isn’t Rocky or Rambo, but a bulked-up Sylvester Stallone landed a knockout punch to the competition as Miramax Films’ “Cop Land� became No. 1 at the box office over the weekend. It beat out strong contenders still in release like “Air Force One� with Harrison Ford and “Conspiracy Theory� with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts.

Stallone, whose big-budget action films have had lackluster domestic box office in recent years, did fairly well when compared to the opening weekend of some of his other films. The $13.5-million weekend debut for “Cop Land� compares to $10 million for “Daylight,� $9.4 million for “Assassins,� $16.7 million for “Judge Dredd� and $14.3 million for “The Specialist.�

Meanwhile, Shaquille O’Neill may be a tower of strength on the basketball court, but his new film, “Steel,� from Warner Bros. performed like the Washington Generals against the Harlem Globetrotters. The film, which was released in 1,260 theaters, took in only $870,068 for a dismal per-screen average of $691. Fox Searchlight’s “The Full Monty,� while released on only six screens, took in $176,585 for a healthy per-screen average of $29,431.

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Cop Land� $13.5 2,233 1 (Miramax) $13.5 $6,050 2. “Air Force One� $12.35 2,981 4 (Sony/Columbia) $130.4 $4,143 3. “Conspiracy Theory� $12.30 2,806 2 (Warner Bros.) $40.7 $4,387 4. “Event Horizon� $9.5 2,311 1 (Paramount) $9.5 $4,116 5. “Spawn� $4.9 2,478 3 (New Line) $46.7 $2,012 6. “George of the Jungle� $4.8 2,431 5 (Disney) $84.6 $1,980 7. “Men in Black� $4.2 2,261 7 (Sony/Columbia) $225.3 $1,860 8. “Picture Perfect� $3.3 1,677 3 (Fox) $23.7 $1,981 9. “Contact� $2.9 1,451 6 (Warner Bros.) $88.6 $1,980 10. “How to Be a Player� $2.5 756 2 (Gramercy) $10.0 $3,344

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.