This weekend audiences turned their backs on last week's No. 1 Eyes Wide Shut, fulfilling industry fears that interest in Stanley Kubrick's last movie was unlikely to be long-lived and broad-based. The Cruise-Kidman psychological sex saga plummeted 54 percent to fourth place, earning just $9.9 million, as moviegoers embraced more standard Hollywood offerings.
The Haunting, a remake of the classic '60s boo-fest headlined by big stars Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones, took in an estimated $33 million. In second place Inspector Gadget, starring Matthew Broderick doing double duty as good-cop-bad-cop, captured a healthy family audience gross of $22 million. In third place the previous No. 1 American Pie earned $10.3 million in its third week of release and has now grossed $64.7 million.
Meantime, in 10th place in its 10th week The Phantom Menace earned another $4.2 million which took its total gross past the $400 million mark to $402.9 million, passing ET for third place on the all-time earnings chart.
According the Exhibitor Relations estimates the Top 10 lined up like this:
1. The Haunting, $33 million
2. Inspector Gadget, $22 million
3.American Pie, $10.3 million
4. Eyes Wide Shut, $9.9 million
5. Big Daddy, $6.1 million
6. Lake Placid, $5.5 million
7. Wild Wild West, $5.4 million
8. The Wood, $4.9 million
9. Tarzan, $4.8 million
10. The Phantom Menace, $4.2 million