Sony's US$100 million plus grossing film STUART LITTLE couldn't hold off
the live-action comedy NEXT FRIDAY at the U.S. box office thus slipping to
second place. The mega-mouse flick, with primary visual effects by Sony
Pictures Imageworks, additional animation by CFX and Rhythm & Hues, and
miniatures by Thunderstone, grossed US$9.7 million bringing its grand total
to $106.8 million. THE GREEN MILE, with primary visual effects by ILM,
Rhythm & Hues, POP and Matte World Digital, fell to 5th place grossing $7.6
million bringing its cume to $101.3 million. GALAXY QUEST, with primary
visual effects by ILM and additional effects by Light Matters, stayed
strong at #6 with a gross of $6.6 million and a cume of $44.8 million. The
critics' new favorite whipping post, SUPERNOVA, with primary visual effects
by Digital Domain, finished the weekend at #8 grossing $5.7 million. Thomas
Lee directed the film, but who is Thomas Lee? Well, he is nobody. Original
director Walter Hill wanted no part in the finished product, thus MGM gave
the credit to the ficticious Thomas Lee after Francis Ford Coppola
reportedly finished up directing the flick. Not a winning endorsement for
quality storytelling. Finishing off the top ten, TOY STORY 2 finished in
9th place with a gross of $5 million and a cume of $225.9 million. Still on
only 54 IMAX screens, FANTASIA/2000 made a reported $2.3 million bringing
its total to $12.6 million. If the toon keeps up its current pace by the
time it hits the local U.S. movie houses in April, it will have already
made $34 million. Box office figures obtained from Daily Variety.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
