Box Office: Angels Soars With Saintly Debut
November 5, 2000 -- Charlie's Angels gave that ubiquitous "girls kick butt" catchphrase a little more longevity this weekend, sparring its way to a smashing $40.5 million debut.
The '70s TV show-turned-blockbuster — starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu — leapt past familial laffer Meet the Parents, which had held on to No. 1 for an amazing four weeks straight, according to box-office estimates released Sunday.
Meanwhile, Robert Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance was knocked off the links by Angels' stellar turn, earning a respectable $12 million to snag third place on its first weekend out.
Barrymore's Flower Films company produced Charlie's Angels. The red-headed star's production partner, Nancy Juvonen, who had hoped for an opening in the $20 million neighborhood, told Reuters her reaction was "put-your-hand-on-your-forehead shock and relief." She added that Barrymore, in Tokyo for the film's premiere there, was "thrilled" with the results.
Charlie's Angels, which had a $92 million production price tag, surpasses Adam Sandler's 1998 bayou comedy The Waterboy — which earned $39.4 million over its opening weekend — to become the No. 2 November bow, according to numbers from box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Toy Story 2 holds the record with a $57 million gross in its first wide weekend last November.
Vance Begs for Second ChanceHovering well below Angels' $40 million-plus take-home pay was Robert Redford's latest directorial effort, The Legend of Bagger Vance. The golf fable, featuring box-office hotties Will Smith and Matt Damon, earned a "good, not great" $12 million, DreamWorks' Jim Tharp said.
Redford shouldn't fret just yet; his 1997 drama, The Horse Whisperer, bowed with $13.7 million but went on to gross a healthy $75 million. Another Redford-helmed weeper starring a couple of young Hollywood hunks, 1992's A River Runs Through It, raised a total of $43.4 million despite grossing just $5 million in its best weekend.
Book of Shadows Is No Best SellerHorror sequel Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 had the weekend's biggest drop, losing 60 percent of its draw and falling from second to fifth place with a $5.3 million take. Poor word of mouth could haunt the scary movie, which is expected to end up with $30 million, according to Artisan Entertainment.
The Top 10's other big loser was the dark comedy Lucky Numbers, which dropped into the No. 9 slot with only $2.2 million. Perhaps viewers are still tormented by the memory of the last efforts of the Numbers cast and crew — John Travolta's dismal Battlefield Earth, and Lisa Kudrow and Nora Ephron's limp-wristed Hanging Up.
The Top 10 films for Nov. 3-5, 2000:
1. Charlie's Angels, $40.5 million2. Meet the Parents, $13.1 million3. The Legend of Bagger Vance, $12 million4. Remember the Titans, $7 million5. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, $5.3 million6. Bedazzled, $4.7 million7. Pay It Forward, $4.4 million8. The Little Vampire, $3.6 million9. Lucky Numbers, $2.2 million10. The Legend of Drunken Master, $1.6 million
Final figures will be released Monday.
Reuters contributed to this story.