Aliens are proving to be big box office this summer, as MEN IN BLACK II debuts at number one, and LILO AND STITCH breaks the $100M mark after three weeks. MEN IN BLACK II, the sequel to the 1997 blockbuster, has taken in a record-breaking total of $90M since its Wednesday, July 4 debut, knocking last week's number one film MR. DEEDS, to second with $18.8M for the weekend and $74M to date. It looks like Adam Sandler has regained his box office magic after the disappointing LITLE NICKY, which bodes well for his upcoming animated feature Adam Sandler's 8 CRAZY NIGHTS, scheduled to be in theaters December 2002 (check out the trailer here). In third place was the family film LIKE MIKE, which earned $13M over the weekend for a five-day total of $20M. The basketball fantasy knocked LILO & STITCH down to fourth, but the animated comedy still pulled in $12.7M for a cume of $103.1M. MINORITY REPORT, with primary visual effects by ILM, earned $12.4M for fifth place and a total to date of $96.8M. In seventh was SCOOBY DOO, with visual effects by Rhythm & Hues and Warner Bros. Feature Animation, with $7M and a cume of $137.5M. Cartoon Network's first animated feature, THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE, had a disappointing ninth place debut, earning $3.5M for the weekend for a five-day total of $6.1M. Moving from television to the big screen seems to be a tough transition for animated series, as Nickelodeon's HEY ARNOLD! THE MOVIE dropped all the way to fourteenth place in its second weekend, bringing in just $1.9M for a total of $10.7M. But comic book heroes still seem to pay off, as SPIDER-MAN took in another $2.2M this weekend, pushing the film's total gross just past the $400M mark. Box office information obtained from yahoo.com and boxofficemojo.com.
The Powerpuff Girls -- everyone's favorite pint size crime fighters have made it to the big screen. J. Paul Peszko speaks with creator Craig McCracken about bringing the TV heroes to the big time.
