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American Morning

Box Office Results From Weekend

Aired September 10, 2001 - 13:37   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, at the box office this weekend it only took only one musketeer to beat the competition.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Michael Okwu is in New York with that story and more in our "Showbiz Today Reports." Hey, Mike.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey guys, good morning to you.

With summer and its blockbusters on the way out, a September calm came over the box office this weekend. In the top spot, "The Musketeer," Hollywood's latest take on the classic swashbuckling tale opened with $10.7 million.

The couples comedy, "Two Can Play That Game," starring Vivica A. Fox and Morris Chestnut, nabbed the second place slot in its first weekend out with $8.3 million.

And Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston groupies got "Rock Star" rolling, but the big stars only managed a third-place showing. The '80s-based flick took in a $6.2 million in its debut.

It may have been a quiet couple of days in American theaters, but there was plenty of action over the weekend in Toronto. Stars and the media gathered there for the Toronto film festival, got to watch an unexpected heroic performance from actor Matthew McConaughey.

Our producer, Marc Balinksy, was there covering the festival for us when he witnessed Matthew McConaughey possibly save a life.

Mark, what happened.

MARC BALINSKY, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, it was a screening for "13 Conversations About One Thing" on Friday night, and the cast was there, the cast which includes McConaughey, Amy Irving, Alan Arkin.

The cast was introduced at the beginning, and then took their seats to watch the film. About three-quarters of the way into the film, a man stood up in the, about 10th row I would say, and said, "is there a doctor in the house." At which point, people were a little confused, because ironically, in the scene of the film right there, a character was talking about becoming a doctor. So people didn't know if it was a publicity stunt or not.

Then screamed, again, she had a seizure, is there a doctor in the house? At which point, Matthew McConaughey...

OKWU: Where was he sitting? Was he sitting...

BALINSKY: He was sitting -- actually, he was very accessible to her. It wasn't like he was just trying to be in the spotlight. He right there, and he was actually the first person on the scene. Then a crowd gathered around this woman in the aisle. It was pretty crazy.

There was a crowd there, so I couldn't exactly see what was going on. But they turned the lights on, they kept the film rolling. People were just like, what's happening here? You know.

OKWU: So, what's your understanding of what Matthew McConaughey did? Did you see him do anything specific?

BALINSKY: Well, I saw him rush to the scene as people helped this women to the aisle. She was visibly unconscious, and they laid her out there. There was a large crowd around, so I couldn't see actually what he was doing. But reportedly, he performed mouth to mouth resuscitation on her. And she said to the news later that evening, that she felt a man caressing her forehead, and putting his hand through her hair, and kissing her on the forehead saying, it's all right, sweetheart, you're going to be all right.

OKWU: And bang, it was Matthew McConaughey.

BALINSKY: Bang, it was Matthew McConaughey, although she claims she didn't know it was him, until she got into the ambulance a little later.

OKWU: OK. We've got to get going. Thank you very much for that report.

Moving on to other gigantic show business story of the weekend, Michael Jackson's concert. Jackson took the stage with dozens of his closest friends at New York's Madison Square Garden on Friday night to celebrate 30 years in music. The show went more than four hours that evening, and because there was too much that fit into one night, there's another one scheduled tonight.

For some of the performers like Usher, it was and will be a thriller of a night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

USHER, SINGER-ACTOR: We had a great opening number. Whitney Houston, my God, the vocals were great. You know what, me and Whitney got on stage and did a little hop dance. I mean honestly, that's what great music and great performance is really all about, having signature movement and those songs that everybody can just feel good about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: Fans of "Survivor" have plenty to feel good about also. The reality show took home some prizes, Emmy at the Creative Emmys in L.A. over the weekend. We'll tell you about that in our next "Showbiz Today Reports" at 11:35 a.m.

Here's what's else is coming up in showbiz.

ANNOUNCER: The world comes to Monterey to celebrate all that jazz. CNN has the behind the scenes ticket to the Monterey Jazz Festival, from in-depth interviews to live performances. CNN's Laurin Sydney and Bill Tush will showcase the festival's smooth sounds.

Go online to CNN/Showbiz for live chats and encore performances. "Showbiz Today Reports" coverage begins September the 20th on CNN. Brought to you by Audi and the all new A-4, coming this October.

OKWU: I'm Michael Okwu reporting from New York. Back to you, guys.

MCEDWARDS: Thank you, Mike. Appreciate it.

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