Strong Viewer Turnout on Presidents Day

Fueled by five films grossing more than $10 million each, the long Presidents Day holiday weekend proved one of the strongest in Hollywood history.

The top 12 films grossed more than $112 million, an 18% gain on the same holiday weekend last year when the total was $95.1 million. The best Presidents Day holiday in terms of box office remains 1998, when “The Wedding Singer” and “Titanic” helped pull in $114.6 million for the top dozen pictures.

This year, “The Whole Nine Yards,” starring Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis, won the four-day holiday weekend by grossing $15.9 million, but it was followed closely with $15.7 million by the sister comedy “Hanging Up,” starring Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton and Lisa Kudrow.

Perhaps the week’s biggest surprise was the sci-fi thriller “Pitch Black,” which opened in fourth place with $13.5 million and an out-of-this-world per-screen average of $7,351. The stock-market drama “Boiler Room” debuted in eighth place with $6.7 million. “American Beauty,” and “The Cider House Rules,” in ninth and 10th place respectively, both clearly benefited from their Oscar best picture nominations last week.

Weekend Box Office

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Four-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “The Whole Nine Yards” $15.9 2,910 1 (Warner Bros.) $15.9 $5,470 2. “Hanging Up” $15.7 2,618 1 (Sony/Columbia) $15.7 $6,001 3. “Snow Day” $15.3 2,702 2 (Paramount) $31.9 $5,648 4. “Pitch Black” $13.5 1,832 1 (USA Films) $13.5 $7,351 5. “The Tigger Movie” $10.6 2,755 2 (Disney) $22.4 $3,849 6. “Scream 3” $9.9 3,368 3 (Miramax/Dimension) $71.4 $2,935 7. “The Beach” $8.3 2,587 2 (Fox) $28.7 $3,190 8. “Boiler Room” $6.7 1,335 1 (New Line) $6.7 $5,036 9. “American Beauty” $6.6 1,287 23 (DreamWorks) $81.4 $5,132 10. “The Cider House Rules” $3.4 857 11 (Miramax) $27.0 $3,978

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.