There was nothing deserted about the theaters where Tom Hanks' new movie debuted as number one. During the Friday-to-Monday period, the island odyssey earned an estimated $40.5 million.
With a per-screen average of $14,582 at 2,780 theaters, the Fox release will become the best Christmas opener ever if estimates hold up when final figures are totaled. And, with a Friday-to-Sunday take of $30.1 million, Cast Away also will qualify as Hanks' second best opener, taking in slightly less than the World War II drama Saving Private Ryan, which opened in July 1998 with $30.5 million.
Hanks' critically acclaimed beach ball of a performance dunked What Women Want down a peg. Mel Gibson's sexual mores comedy, which also stars Everywoman Helen Hunt (the gal who waits for Hanks in Cast Away), dropped to second place after just one week on top. Losing 52 percent of its audience, the film earned $16.3 million during the weekend, and $21.5 million from Friday to Monday.
According to estimates by Exhibitor Relations, three other new movies in wide release made the top 10 list.
At number three, The Family Man, Nicolas Cage's effort to convince us he's today's answer to Jimmy Stewart (doesn't he know Hanks has first dibs on that honor), earned an estimated $15.2 million ($12.8 million through Sunday). The less-than-wonderful per-screen average was $6,348 for this It's a Wonderful Life retread, starring Cage as a tycoon who finds out what it would've been like had he settled down with old flame Téa Leoni.
At number five, Miss Congeniality, Sandra Bullock's latest cutey-pie caper as an FBI agent penetrating the beauty pageant world, earned a less than pretty $10.2 million, bringing its total to $13.8 million through Christmas.
At number seven, Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000 had no fangs. The horror story earned just $7.8 million, not much better than its Friday-to-Sunday take of $6.5 million.
In limited release, the latest quirky creation from the Coen brothers, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, took in lots of loose change. The Depression-era prison camp escapee comedy, starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Holly Hunter and John Goodman, scored $150,000 ($200,000 through Monday) at just five theaters.
However, the latest coming-of-age message movie from Gus Van Sant, Finding Forrester, starring veteran Sean Connery and newcomer Robert Brown, was less impressive. Since opening Tuesday (in order to qualify for Oscar consideration), it has earned $50,000 at three theaters. On Christmas morning, the film expanded into 200 theaters, but there's no word yet on how it performed.
Meanwhile, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas continued to hold up in fourth place, adding another $15 million, to bring its current gross to $235.4 million, the highest of 2000 and putting it at number 20 on the all-time domestic blockbuster list.
Pouncing into the top 10 also was the award-winning martial-arts fantasy Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Its excellent per-screen average of $28,546 earned $4 million from just 141 sites through Monday.
The top 10 estimates the four-day holiday weekend, including Christmas Day, were as follows (Friday-to-Sunday estimates are in parentheses):
1. Cast Away, $40.5 million ($30 million)
2. What Women Want, $21.5 million ($16.3 million)
3. The Family Man, $15.2 million ($12.8 million)
4. Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, $15 million ($11.6 million)
5. Miss Congeniality, $13.8 million ($10.2 million)
6. The Emperor's New Groove, $10.2 million ($8 million)
7. Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000, $7.8 million ($6.5 million)
8. Dude, Where's My Car?, $5.2 million ($4.5 million)
9. Vertical Limit, $5.7 million ($4.4 million)
10. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, $4 million ($2.7 million).
(UPDATED at 1:30 p.m. PT on 12/26/00)