Box Office Comes to "Daddy"

Adam Sandler flick takes in $41.2 million at theaters this weekend

By Daniel Frankel Jun 28, 1999 2:20 AMTags
Remember that goofy guy on Saturday Night Live who used to ad-lib songs on his guitar?

Well, goofy comedian Adam Sandler now ad-libs in major motion pictures, and those are now huge money-makers. Witness his latest effort, Big Daddy, which took in $41.2 million this weekend to absolutely wet the competition's doors at the box office.

Combining Sandler's abrasive Happy Gilmore style with his more charming The Wedding Singer character, Daddy easily beat last week's champ, the Disney animated retelling of Tarzan. The jungle man took in a still-pretty-big $23.5 million.

Coming in third was fellow ex-SNL star Mike Myers, with his Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. The Brit spy sendup sequel fell below the 20 mil mark ($18.5 million) but still gave New Line Cinema a record for its highest grossing film ever after only three megamarketed weeks, baby. Rush Hour ($144 million in '98) owned the mark before.

Last week, three films earned in exesss of $20 million. The week ending June 27 was huge as well, only the wealth was spread around a bit more.

The John Travolta thriller The General's Daughter isn't going to be called "boffo" in the trades, but its fourth-place, $15.6 million performance--the film's second consecutive solid weekend--isn't going to have anybody calling it dud, either. (Many feared it would bomb, given the highly competitive market right now.)

And, of course, Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace doesn't seem to be going anywhere--not with a nice $14.6 million take after more than a month in theaters.

The rest of the Top 10 remained largely the same, save for the Rupert Everett flick An Ideal Husband, which cracked the lineup at No. 9 despite having a limited theater release.

Here are the weekend's Top 10 flicks, according to estimates from Exhibitor Relations.

1. Big Daddy, $41.2 million
2. Tarzan, $23.5 million
3. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, $18.5 million
4. The General's Daughter, $15.6 million
5. The Phantom Menace, $14.6 million
6. Notting Hill, $5.1 million
7. The Mummy, $2.1 million
8. Instinct, $1.9 million
9. An Ideal Husband, $1.1 million
10. The Matrix, $1 million