‘Witch’ Chases ‘Bride’

Julia Roberts and Richard Gere ran away with the No. 1 position at the box office in their latest romantic comedy, “Runaway Bride,” but it was the low-budget horror film “The Blair Witch Project” that captured the spotlight.

“Runaway Bride,” which reunited the stars of the 1990 hit “Pretty Woman,” took in $35.1 million, making it Roberts’ highest-grossing opening ever. By comparison, “Pretty Woman” opened to $11.3 million in box office.

Artisan’s “Blair Witch” came in a strong second with $29.2 million on just 1,101 screens for a phenomenal per-screen average of $26,528. The other new entry, Renny Harlin’s shark thriller, “Deep Blue Sea,” came in third with $19.1 million for a five-day total of $25.2 million.

However, Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” took another noticeable drop in its third weekend of release; the film has brought in $48.7 million to date.

This past weekend, the top 12 films grossed an estimated $137.2 million, up 34% from the same weekend last year.

Weekend Box Office

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Runaway Bride” $35.1 3,158 1 (Paramount) $35.1 $11,101 2. “The Blair Witch Project” $29.2 1,101 3 (Artisan) $26.1 $26,528 3. “Deep Blue Sea” $19.1 2,854 1 (Warner Bros.) $25.2 $6,695 4. “The Haunting” $15.3 2,864 2 (DreamWorks) $64.0 $5,327 5. Inspector Gadget” $14.1 2,877 2 (Disney) $47.9 $4,912 6. “American Pie” $6.8 2,436 4 (Universal) $77.2 $2,785 7. “Eyes Wide Shut” $4.3 2,264 3 (Warner Bros.) $48.7 $1,908 8. “Big Daddy” $3.6 2,288 6 (Sony/Columbia) $152.7 $1,555 9. “Star Wars Episode 1” $3.4 1,628 11 (Fox) $408.6 $2,101 10. “Tarzan” $3.0 1,611 7 (Disney)) $158.4 $1,884

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.