Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Showbiz Today Reports: 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence' Tops Weekend Movie Ticket Sales
Aired July 02, 2001 - 11:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURIN SYDNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Negotiators for Hollywood actors and producers go back to the bargaining table today, hoping to avert a strike. The Actors Guild contract expired Saturday night, and marathon bargaining sessions have been taking place, to try and come up with a new deal. Spokespeople for both sides say that progress is being made. The actors have agreed to continue working under the old contract while the negotiations continue. Issues include acting residuals for work overseas on cable and the on Internet.
Friends and family turned out Sunday to pay tribute to legendary actor Jack Lemmon. Kirk and Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia and many others attended the private services held near the campus of UCLA. The two-time Oscar winner died of complications from cancer Wednesday, at the age of 76.
A collaboration between two of the greatest filmmakers of all time was the number one film at the box office this weekend. Steven Spielberg's sci-fi "A.I.," a project he worked on with the late Stanley Kubrick, was smart enough to make $30 million.
Joining us now is our own very smart movie analyst Mr. Martin Grove of hollywoodreporter.com.
Marty, some loved it; some hate it. Who actually saw it?
MARTY GROVE, HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM: Well, Laurin, about $30 million worth of moviegoers saw it. That's an A-OK opening for "A.I." Indeed, they were mainly couples; 51 percent of them were male, ad 49 percent were female -- that's a good split demographically. They were mostly over the age of 25. They lived mostly in big cities. It played best in the major markets, not quite so well in smaller cities. Warner Bros. said over the weekend that 80 percent of those on hand rated it anywhere from good to excellent. They are encouraged that this is at least a $100-million-grossing movie, ultimately.
SYDNEY: Marty, "The Fast and the Furious" is speeding right along. What's happening with that film?
GROVE: Decelerating a little bit, Laurin. It was off 50 percent this weekend. They open big and they fall big. But it's already done about $78 million. It's heading to $100 million. It only cost Universal $38 to make it, so believe me they're happy they're going to see some profits. SYDNEY: Love those words: It only cost $38 mill.
A small film called "Baby Boy" also did well, but that didn't cost $38 mill.
GROVE: As a matter of fact, "Baby Boy," which is from Sony's Columbia Pictures label, cost about $16 million. It opened to about $8.6 million. It's done a little over $11 million on the first five days since it opened, last Wednesday. That is a hit because it's a small film. John Singleton has a strong following among African- American moviegoers, and that's all it takes to launch one of his movies. Sony did a good job of marketing it, and now it will be in position to play over the July 4 holiday period.
SYDNEY: Speaking of that period, Marty, July 4, obviously, is on a Wednesday. Is that a good thing or a bad thing for a box office?
GROVE: It's a good thing for theater owners, Laurin, because July 4, as we all know, is a day when we like to be outdoors. We like to be swimming, picnicking, and barbequeing, and we want to see the fireworks, at night. None of those are things that happen inside movie theaters. So when the holiday is on a weekend, it cuts into business. When it's on a Wednesday, as it is this year, that's really very good for business because the theaters get their big weekend -- as they just it -- and on Wednesday, if business is affected, you're not losing a great date.
There are two big films opening for the holiday. We have, from Warner Bros., "Cats and Dogs." This is...
TOY: We're trying to take over the world.
GROVE: This is from "Cats and Dogs." -- and "Scary Movie," from Miramax Dimension label is opening also on Wednesday. We'll be talking about the box office results for both of these films next weekend, and we can look for some pretty good business for them both. They both have different markets. It's an R-rated film for "Scary Movie II," and a PG-rated film, family appeal, for "Cats and Dogs," so they'll carve up the July 4 marketplace.
SYDNEY: Marty, I certainly hope that toy was paper-trained. Thank you very much, Marty.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
