Eye of the Beholder Tops Lackluster Weekend

By Sushuma on 2000-01-31 10:17:36

(AP)--Eye of the Beholder opened atop the box office, but competition from the Super Bowl, icy weather across much of the country and a lack of attention-grabbing premieres made for a lackluster weekend, according to industry estimates Sunday.?Eye of the Beholder, a thriller starring Ashley Judd, had $6.2 million in ticket sales.?The only other opening in wide release, the Bette Midler film Isn't She Great, the biography of Valley of the Dolls author Jacqueline Susann, failed to crack the top 10.?The comedy Next Friday and the Denzel Washington drama The Hurricane tied for second place with $6 million.?For the second weekend in a row, none of the top 10 films made at least $10 million during the three-day period.?That last happened in October 1998, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Inc., a box office tracking firm in Los Angeles.?"It's been a tough couple of weekends," Dergarabedian said.?"For a top film to do $6.2 million shows you what kind of state the box office is in at this moment." Super Bowl weekend is traditionally tough for the film industry, and stormy weather across the country made it particularly harsh, analysts said.?"People are going to be spending more time shoveling snow than they are going to the theater," said Robert Bucksbaum of Reel Source Inc.?Even with the low overall numbers, "Eye of the Beholder" was a success for Destination Films.?The movie is only the second from the fledgling studio, which also released Bats last fall.?It also confirms the rising star power of Judd.?About 60 percent of Eye of the Beholder's audience went to the film specifically to see the actress, star of the past thrillers Double Jeopardy and Kiss the Girls, Bucksbaum said.?Family films continued their impressive run.?Stuart Little and Toy Story 2 finished in the top 10 and have accumulated the highest grosses of any movie currently in general release.?Stuart Little has taken in $123 million in seven weeks.?Toy Story 2 has brought in $234.4 million during an 11-week run.?

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