"A.I." Plugs in at No. 1

Steven Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, starring Haley Joel Osment as a robo-boy programmed to love and Jude Law as a robo-gigolo programmed to make love, clicked in as the nation's new number one movie, with $29.4 million.

The PG-rated sci-fi cautionary tale, originally devised by the late Stanley Kubrick, had a nearly identical debut to Spielberg's last serious drama, Saving Private Ryan, which opened in July 1998 with $30.6 million.

But the new Warners release (reportedly budgeted at $100 million) didn't score as high a per screen average as that War World II epic, which went on to gross more than $216 million, and might spell trouble for A.I.'s long-term legs. Judged by many critics to be an uncomfortable dichotomy between two very different filmmakers, A.I. attracted a mainly adult audience and scored a per screen average of $9,000 at 3,242 sites, according to final studio figures Monday.

On the plus side, however, it did better than Kubrick's posthumous sex drama Eyes Wide Shut, which debuted in July '99 with $21.7 million.

A.I.'s debut was helped by the sharp fall-off by last week's top films and the lack of major new competition.

Of the new films in circulation this week only two others cracked the top 10 list.

Baby Boy, John Singleton's decade later follow-up to Boyz N the Hood, starring Tyrese Gibson as an irresponsible single dad, earned a decent $8.6 million in fifth place. The R-rated drama averaged $5,600 per 1,533 screens over the weekend. Since opening Wednesday, the film has grossed $11.7 million.

crazy/beautiful, starring Kirsten Dunst as a grungy self-destructive rich kid in love with a cute straight-A Latino student, barely registered with moviegoers, taking in $4.7 million in ninth place. The PG-13 rated romantic drama averaged $2,900 per 1,601 screens.

The week's other major newbie bombed the box office. Pootie Tang, the feature film based on a skit from The Chris Rock Show, didn't even make the top 10. The PG-13-rated comedy earned a piddly $1.5 million in 12th place, averaging $2,100 at 712 sites.

Meanwhile, last week's number one, The Fast and The Furious, sputtered, dropping 50 percent but still finishing in second with another $20 million. In two weeks, the drag-racing flick has made $77.9 million.

Eddie Murphy's chatty critters sequel Dr. Dolittle 2 quieted down, falling off 37 percent and dropping from second to third place with $15.8 million. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider also continued to tumble, down to fourth with $10.2 million. Still, Angelina Jolie's estrogen Indiana Jones has racked up $101.6 million in three weeks, becoming the sixth movie to top $100 million this year.

In case you're keeping score at home, Pearl Harbor still hasn't reached the $200 million mark, and might not get there. In its sixth week, the ultra-expensive wannabe epic took in $4.72 million in eighth place to bring its total to $179.7 million.

The limited-release action was dominated by two French films: the he-maybe-gay sex comedy The Closet averaged a boffo $21,000 per its four screens for a total of $85,000, while the noirish mystery Crimson Rivers averaged $4,500 at seven sites on its way to $32,000.

Here are the weekend's top 10 movies, according to final studio tallies compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, $29.4 million
2. The Fast and The Furious, $20.1 million
3. Dr. Dolittle 2, $15.8 million
4. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, $10.2 million
5. Baby Boy, $8.6 million
6. Atlantis: The Lost Empire, $8.3 million
7. Shrek, $7.7 million.
8. Pearl Harbor, $4.722 million
9. crazy/beautiful, $4.715 million
10. Swordfish, $4.3 million

(originally published 7/1/01 at 12:40 p.m. PT)