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American Morning

Look at Top Movies This Weekend and Some Oscar Bounce

Aired February 18, 2002 - 07:40   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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP "JOHN Q")

DENZEL WASHINGTON, ACTOR: You find Rebecca Paine (ph), Hope Memorial's administrative supervisor. You find her, you tell her I want my kid's name on the donor's list. You got that? My kid's name on the donor's list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: All in all, it was a good week for Denzel Washington. First, he scores his fifth Academy Award nomination, then his new movie "John Q" goes public with a $20 million take in the top spot at the weekend box office. Sharing the wealth with "John Q," "Crossroads," the new Britney Spears' flick; the Peter Pan sequel, "Return to Never Land," which I actually thought was a horror film starring Michael Jackson; "Collateral Damage," last week's number one; and "Big Fat Liar."

Joining us now for more on the movies and some Oscar bounce, "People" magazine movie critic, Leah Rozen. Thanks for being with us.

LEAH ROZEN, MOVIE CRITIC, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: No problem. Good morning, Anderson.

COOPER: So "John Q," I mean, despite pretty bad reviews across the board, it did pretty well.

ROZEN: It just connected with the public. I mean, I don't think any critic is going to go the mat (ph) on this one saying it's a good film because it's not. But it really worked with the -- with the audience, because I think they successfully communicated in the ads the plot of the movie is basically his son is denied a transplant because their insurance won't cover it. So he holds the hospital at gun point, demanding a heart for his son.

COOPER: Do you think they received a mini bounce from the fact that Denzel Washington got the nomination for "Training Day" earlier in the week and that this sort of carried over? Denzel Washington was in people's minds?

ROZEN: Yes, I think it did. I think the fact though, however, is he is someone that -- people go see Denzel Washington movies. This is his eighth straight movie to open at number one. So it's sort of like, "Oh, Denzel Washington is in a movie. It's going to be pretty good. Let's go see it." Plus, I think just sort of the economic jitters of the country. People could respond to the notion that you don't have insurance and you find yourself in a desperate situation. One hopes people won't be quite as desperate as he is in this movie.

COOPER: Right. February is still -- is it still the dumping ground for movies? I mean, last weekend it seemed they were just putting some movies out, "Rollerball," "Collateral Damage"...

ROZEN: Yeah, February is still -- the movies out this week, not one of them is going to be mentioned at Oscar time next year.

COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) variety.

ROZEN: Yeah. They had something for everybody. Britney Spears' "Crossroads" was certainly aimed at girls and teenage girls. "Hart's War," which is the Bruce Willis film that came in number seven has to be disappointing for him. That was a World War II movie certainly aimed at male action viewers. And "Return to Never Land," not the Michael Jackson story, was aimed at kids under six, basically.

COOPER: Right. Now -- I mean to me, the big story this past weekend was Schwarzenegger, "Collateral Damage" dropped out of the number one spot. And "Hart's War," Bruce Willis, didn't do very well. As you said, it came in seventh.

ROZEN: It has to make you question where are those male action fans. You would expect that Hart's -- that "Collateral Damage" would have dropped almost -- it dropped about 40 percent. And that was -- that's about what you would expect for that kind of movie. Because the fans of those films go the very first weekend, and then the word of mouth on it was not that good. So the people that saw it the first weekend were not saying to their buddies, "You must see this movie." Hence, the drop.

"Hart's War," you have to question Bruce Willis' draw at the box office right now in something other than a "Die Hard," five, six, seven and eight.

COOPER: How did Oscar nominations affect movie sales this weekend?

ROZEN: You had what is called the Oscar bounce. All of the Oscar movies were up -- the best picture nominated films were up between 30 and 50 percent at the box office, because people think, "You know, I want to see every movie that's nominated for an Oscar. So when the Oscars show up on March 24th, I'll have -- you know, I'll be in there voting myself."

COOPER: Yeah, I read "A Beautiful Mind" was up like 35 percent at the box office. "In the Bedroom," 50 percent. "Lord of the Rings," 38 percent.

ROZEN: Right. No, they were all up. And, what's sort of fun is, "Moulin Rouge," which is the only one that's not really in theaters now, went way up on its DVD. Rentals were up 160 percent, I think. And its video rentals were up 40 percent. COOPER: Wow. So it even carries over to video?

ROZEN: Absolutely.

COOPER: Will this -- does the bounce last, I mean, all the way through to the Oscars? Will this continue?

ROZEN: The bounce -- yeah, the bounce pretty much. These films continue to play in theaters; audiences continue to see them because they want to be -- they want to know on Oscar night how they stand on these things. Plus the films that have a best actor or best actress nomination often can also do significant business. "Monster's Ball," with Halle Berry, was up about 20 percent at the box office this weekend. "Iris," which is a small film with Dame Judy Dench (ph), and it had two other acting nominations, was also up.

COOPER: Have you seen Britney Spears' movie? Is it...

ROZEN: I saw "Crossroads," and I'm here to say it's not that bad.

COOPER: Really?

ROZEN: Yes. Adults don't have to go. But if you're a teenage girl, it's kind of a good coming of age movie. And, you know, she -- best acting by a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you've seen in years.

COOPER: All right. There you go. I don't think I'll be seeing it anytime soon, but maybe -- maybe once it's on DVD. Thanks a lot, Leah Rozen, "People" magazine.

ROZEN: You're welcome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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