‘Private Ryan’ Finds Its Audience

Steven Spielberg’s almost three-hour “Saving Private Ryan” capitalized on its popular star Tom Hanks and its resoundingly strong reviews to corral an impressive opening weekend of $30.1 million in 2,463 theaters, more than $12,000 a screen.

The total far exceeded DreamWorks’ expectations. The fledgling studio, which is releasing the film in the U.S. (Paramount has it overseas), had only been expecting an $18 million to $20 million debut based on the film’s R rating, its length (which limits the number of performances) and the film’s graphic violence.

But audiences seemed prepared for an event movie that challenged as well as entertained them, and the trust Spielberg has accumulated as a filmmaker over 25 years came to bear on “Ryan.” Certainly, it didn’t hurt to have Hanks, one of the world’s biggest and most likable stars, at the film’s emotional center. Edward Burns and Matt Damon in supporting roles helped shore up the female audience, which would not necessarily run out to a war movie.

DreamWorks’ distribution executive Jim Tharp said that the demographic on the film was evenly split between men and women and that the only reason Saturday improved on Friday was because of matinee attendance, since most evening shows were sold out. Holding power seems assured because of reviews and word of mouth; “Ryan” will surely get another boost come Oscar season.

Neither of the weekend’s two other debuts was able to make much of a dent, though MGM’s “Disturbing Behavior” did command some of the Friday night teen audience, which is just marking time until “Halloween H20” arrives Aug. 5. “Disturbing Behavior” is likely to be out of the running by then based on its modest $7 million debut in 1,842 houses.

In fact, “Disturbing Behavior” might have behaved better had it not been cut off at the knees by the gross-out comedy “There’s Something About Mary.” The film had a promising opening weekend, but midweek attendance just grew and grew. What already seemed like a hit now looks to be a smash. Second-weekend grosses were down an imperceptible 8% to $12.7 million in 2,216 theaters. After two weekends “Mary” has a total of $41 million.

“Mary” also squashed any potential “Mafia!” might have had of drawing the silly-seekers. The mildly reviewed gangster-movie spoof earned only $6.4 million in 1,942 theaters. Next weekend it must also contend with “BASEketball,” as well as “There’s Something About Mary,” which means “Mafia!” could soon be sleeping with the fishes.

“Saving Private Ryan” also seemed to affect another wide-audience movie, “The Mask of Zorro,” which dropped about 39% to a still good estimate of $13.7 million in its second weekend on 2,515 screens, for almost $48 million after 10 days.

“Lethal Weapon 4” had a similar decline, to about $13.2 million in 3,117 theaters, taking it to just under $95 million after just three weekends. The action comedy will take in $100 million before next weekend. But it’s no “Armageddon,” which is homing in on $150 million after only four weeks in theaters, dropping 35% to a still turbo-charged estimate of $10.9 million in 3,127 houses. Repeat business has obviously taken over, and that pattern should bring it closer to $200 million than any film this summer.

The quartet of family films currently in theaters continued to draw the kiddies and their parents. The strongman continues to be “Dr. Dolittle,” with another smaller-than-average drop (under 30%), to an estimated $6.85 million in 2,528 play dates and just a couple million shy of $120 million, helped by playing with sneak previews of the Cinderella story “Ever After,” starring Drew Barrymore, to be released by “Dr. Dolittle’s” studio, Fox.

“Small Soldiers” may be pint-sized by comparison, but it has a core audience that brought in an estimated $5.1 million its third weekend on 2,512 theaters, for $40.3 million so far.

Both “Madeline” and “Mulan” are running out of steam. This weekend “Mulan” managed about $3.4 million in 1,705 theaters and $108 million to date, getting a boost from “The Parent Trap” sneaks on Saturday night, which sold out half its shows. “Madeline” dropped out of the top 10 but still managed $2.8 million in 1,733 theaters for a cumulative total of $21.6 after three weeks.

Closing out the top dozen is the winner and still champ, “Titanic,” which garnered another $1.5 million in its discount engagements on 839 screens for just over $593 million total.

The coming weekend looks to be a killer. So far this summer, the major studios have largely kept to two major releases per weekend, but by Friday there will be four new movies in theaters. “The Negotiator,” starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey, had very good preview attendance Saturday night, meaning it could catch on with the action crowd. “The Parent Trap” has name recognition based on its original from the ‘60s, a lure to boomer parents and, Disney hopes, their daughters. Both films open Wednesday.

And young women and men, respectively, will be the target audience for “Ever After” and the goofy bad-taste comedy “BASEketball,” hitting theaters on Friday.

* RELATED STORIES F3, F10