Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Weekend Box Office Hits
Aired August 27, 2001 - 10:40 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's late in the summer but our rally continues, a third sweet week for a movie sequel at the box office. And checking on a silent yet striking movie debut.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's check in with striking and not silent our Jodi Ross, who's standing by and, she's got our "Showbiz Today Reports" this morning. Hey, Jodi.
JODI ROSS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Leon and Daryn. Thank you very much for that. I am certainly not silent, I have a lot to tell today.
We're back with news from the weekend box office. Sequels stayed on top and moviegoers were still sweet on "American Pie."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "AMERICAN PIE" (on screen): Pop a keg on the deck and the girls coming in off the beach. It's like a hummingbird feeder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "AMERICAN PIE" (on screen): Oh, yes. The Stif-meister is coming back to Great Harbor.
ROSS (voice-over): After three weeks in theaters, audiences weren't ready to say bye-bye "American Pie" just yet. The goofball college-kid comedy "American Pie 2" took home the largest slice of the box-office pie once again, earning an estimated $12.8 million for the weekend.
Another sequel, "Rush Hour 2," continued to keep the second place spot tied up. The Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker karate-chopping cop comedy collected an estimated $11.4 million.
In third place, the dopey duo, Jay and Silent Bob, made some box- office noise. The debut of "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back," the latest flick from filmmaker Kevin Smith, took in an estimated $11.1 million.
The haunted house tale "The Others" scared up another $8.6 million in ticket sales. The thriller, starring Nicole Kidman, landed in fourth place.
And "Rat Race" wrapped up the fifth place spot with an estimated $8.3 million.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROSS: Well, they hit the road to Hollywood in their latest movie, and if the weekend box office is any indication, the characters Jay and Silent Bob are indeed Hollywood players. "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back" was the only debut film to make it into the top five this week, and it's all from the mind of filmmaker Kevin Smith.
CNN's Paul Vercammen sat down with the guys from New Jersey, who turn into Tinseltown darlings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON LEE, "JAY AND SILENT BOB" (on screen): There's a movie being made you two are the basis for.
JASON MEWES, "JAY AND SILENT BOB" (on screen): What!?
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two slackers from New Jersey head to Hollywood in "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back." this is the last in the series from director, writer and actor Kevin Smith, who plays Bob.
KEVIN SMITH, DIRECTOR-WRITER-ACTOR: Silent Bob stops being cute the moment his doe eyes go into these pinched kind of Redford affairs, you know. It's -- you got to get out while the getting's good. You don't want to overstay your welcome.
VERCAMMEN: Kevin Smith's Jay and Bob first oozed onto the movie scene like a convenience store slurpee with "Clerks," then "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma." Now for "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back," Smith recruited old cronies and new conspirators. Among them, as always, Jason Mewes as Jay, Ben Affleck, Will Ferrell, George Carlin, Shannon Elizabeth, Chris Rock, and Mark Hamill of "Star Wars" fame.
MARK HAMILL, ACTOR: I play a villain in a comic book adaptation of "Jay And Silent Bob"'s comic book. It's the plot of the whole movie. They're going to Hollywood to stop this whole movie from being made, and I'm the villain in the movie being made. So it was a blast.
VERCAMMEN: Smith's wife Jennifer also stars, and turned out with her reluctant husband for the premier.
Because why do these people need a party, right? What did they really do? They got paid.
JENNIFER SCHWALBACH SMITH: He's just a homebody. He doesn't want to have to get dressed up. He's got a bad attitude.
SMITH: Yes, it's a terrible, terrible attitude.
J. SMITH: He'd rather watch TV at home.
VERCAMMEN: Weeks before the "Jay And Silent Bob" premier, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation blasted the film's crude joke. Smith in turn made a $10,000 donation to the Matthew Shepherd Foundation, and added an end of the film disclaimer against real-life hate speech. But, Smith won't apologize for Jay and Silent Bob.
SMITH: Everything I wanted to say to GLAAD I've already said. Like I said, I'll respect their cause and what they're doing. I just think they went after the wrong picture. I mean I'm a pretty overtly gay friendly, straight director. So, I don't know. I'm the wrong movie to kind of pick.
VERCAMMEN: As seen in the movie, Smith also takes objection to random verbal attacks on the internet.
SMITH: And when people say negative things about me on the internet, I kind of lose my cool, and basically hire PIs to track these people down, because they always hide behind anonymous names, right? That's what nut's all about, anonymity.
VERCAMMEN: If it's hard to tell whether Smith is serious or sarcastic, take sarcastic with a grain of salt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "JAY AND SILENT BOB" (on screen): Stand there and react, don't say anything, especially you.
VERCAMMEN: Paul Vercammen, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROSS: Well, that will silence the "Showbiz Today Reports" for this hour. I'll make a quiet exit out of here, but Laurin Sydney will be back in the 11:00 hour with the latest on the weekend's big movies and more on the life and career of Aaliyah. So join us then.
I'm Jodi Ross reporting from New York. Now, back to you in Atlanta.
KAGAN: Thank you
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Jodi.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
