‘Impact’ Hangs On to No. 1 as ‘Whisperer’ Gallops In

As a warm-up for the big Memorial Day weekend, a second summer contender, Robert Redford’s western romance “The Horse Whisperer” debuted impressively this weekend to an estimated $14.0 million on 2,039 screens--just under $7,000 a screen.

It did not, however, topple “Deep Impact,” in which a comet the size of Manhattan threatens Manhattan. But after its surprisingly strong debut, the Paramount/DreamWorks release showed it was no “Twister” by losing almost 45% of its first-weekend business, with a predicted $23.3 million on 3,192 screens.

With $74 million already in the bank, the disaster flick should hit $100 million even if it will be hard to find next weekend, what with “Godzilla” playing on about one out of every four screens in the country.

Warner Bros.’ “The Quest for Camelot” was also testing the waters for Memorial Day, when it will have the young children’s audience pretty much to itself. First weekend, though, was only modest, with $6.4 million on more than 3,100 screens, for a poor $2,060 per screen average (though children’s admissions are lower, which drags down the average).

Twentieth Century Fox’s “Bulworth,” starring Warren Beatty, opened on two screens, the Ziegfeld in New York and the AMC Century City in L.A. to a promising $135,000, or $67,500 per screen. The strongly reviewed political satire was expected to do well in major urban markets, and Fox domestic film group chairman Thomas Sherak said the upscale audience was slightly more male than female, which was also expected. The real test will come on Friday when “Bulworth” raps across the nation on about 2,000 screens.

Like “Bulworth,” the core audience for “The Horse Whisperer” is over 25, which is good since everyone under that age will likely be on the “Godzilla” thrill ride. Disney distribution president Phil Barlow says the film seduced its intended female audience and business climbed almost 30% from Friday to Saturday, always a good sign.

And while $14 million is not blockbuster business, “Horse Whisperer’s” opening compares favorably with similarly themed movies such as “The Bridges of Madison County,” which did slightly more than $10 million when it debuted, or even Redford’s “Up Close and Personal,” which grossed $11 million its first weekend.

Considering the similarity of its audience, “Horse Whisperer” didn’t take that big a bite out of “City of Angels,” which still managed an estimate of $3.2 million over the weekend on 2,245 screens, losing only 32% of its business. With its $66 million after six weeks, the angelic romance has a good chance of beating out “The Wedding Singer” as the top performer of spring ’98.

Spike Lee’s father-son basketball drama, “He Got Game,” continued to compete with the real drama of professional basketball on TV and lost more of its business over the weekend, dribbling to $2.4 million on 1,414 screens with a disappointing $16.7 million to date. “Titanic” was right behind it with $2.2 million on 1,990 screens and a top-of-the-world $572 million so far.

Both “Woo,” starring Jada Pinkett Smith, and “Paulie,” featuring a parrot in the lead role, were down for about $1.7 million each. The former has grossed a miserable $4.9 million in two weeks, while the latter has barely cracked $20 million.

“Les Miserables” ($1.5 million) fell to ninth place and with $11.4 million in three weeks seems destined to be gone from theaters soon. The action film “The Big Hit” with Mark Wahlberg rounds out the top 10 with $1.4 million and has done a respectable $25.5 million to date.

Starting Tuesday night the box office attendance picture will drastically change. “Godzilla” will reach more than 7,200 screens by Wednesday and will cut a wide swath across the Memorial Day weekend. The only other rival of note will be Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of Hunter Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” starring Johnny Depp.