(Touchstone) opened at No. 4 with $17 million. The supernatural thriller ``What Lies Beneath'' (DreamWorks) rounded out the top five with $13.9 million in its third weekend, taking its total to $95.2 million. Overall ticket sales slid for the second consecutive weekend. Tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. reported the top 12 films grossed $116.5 million, down 4.3 percent from last weekend and down 15.3 percent from the year-ago weekend.
New releases next weekend include ``The Replacements,'' a football comedy starring Keanu Reeves; director Joan Chen's ''Autumn in New York,'' a romance starring Richard Gere and Winona Ryder; and the Kim Basinger supernatural thriller ``Bless the Child.'' A 30th anniversary restored version of the Rolling Stones' infamous concert film ``Gimme Shelter'' will begin a nationwide rollout in a few markets.
Despite critical evisceration, Dutch director Paul Verhoeven's R-rated ``Hollow Man'' pulled in audiences with its special effects, said Jeff Blake, distribution president at Columbia's Sony Pictures parent.
``There's no question that we were selling a package by a guy (Verhoeven) who has a lot of credibility in the genre,'' Blake said.
The film's opening marks a career best for Verhoeven, surpassing 1990's ``Total Recall'' ($25.5 million). His other credits include ``Starship Troopers'' and ``RoboCop.''
The film stars Bacon as a gung-ho government scientist who makes himself invisible and then goes on the rampage when he cannot reappear. Elisabeth Shue and Josh Brolin co-star.
The audience was evenly split between males and females, and 54 percent of viewers were aged under 25. Even without an A-star cast, Blake predicted the movie would play strongly overseas and in ancillary markets.
Sony Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp. (6758.T). Columbia's last No. 1 opener was the December 1999 release ``Stuart Little.'' But unlike the talking mouse movie, the storyline for ''Hollow Man'' indicates a sequel is improbable.
``Space Cowboys,'' which enjoyed critical raves, stars Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland as space program pioneers who finally get their chance to go into orbit. With its elderly cast, the PG-13 film attracted mature moviegoers who have largely been ignored by the studios this summer.
``These four guys have been entertaining America for years and they have a great fan base,'' said Warner Bros. distribution president Dan Fellman. He reported that Eastwood was ``very, very pleased'' with the opening.
Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N)
While their parents or grandparents were watching ``Space Cowboys,'' youngsters were ogling five attractive young women in ''Coyote Ugly.''
Newcomer Piper Perabo plays a wannabe pop star who gets a job as a dancing bartender in a trendy New York watering hole. The film was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who has already enjoyed success this summer with ``Gone in Sixty Seconds.''
``It's a little bit of a Cinderella story,'' said Chuck Viane, president of distribution at Touchstone sister company Buena Vista Pictures. Both are units of Walt Disney Co. (DIS.N).
According to Friday exit polling, half the audience for the PG-13 movie was aged under 21, and females made up 55 percent of viewers, Viane said.
In the milestone department, the seventh-ranked ``Scary Movie'' became the biggest film in Miramax Films' history, said studio marketing president Dennis Rice. With a 31-day haul of $140.1 million, it surpasses the Oscar-winning 1998 picture ''Good Will Hunting,'' which ended up with $138 million. Miramax is a also a Disney Unit.
Opening in limited release was the British dope comedy ''Saving Grace,'' starring Brenda Blethyn. The film grossed $289,000 from 30 runs in 12 markets, and will go wide on Sept. 1. Blethyn plays a green-thumbed widow who is forced to grow cannabis in order to stave off her creditors.
The film won the audience award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, where Time Warner's niche studio Fine Line paid a reported $4 million for distribution rights. Fine Line distribution executive Steven Friedlander said the film rated better in exit polls than the studio's Oscar-winning ``Shine.''
Universal is a unit of Seagram Co. Ltd (VO.TO), while DreamWorks is privately held. Reuters
Streep Says She's a Fan of Chinese Cinema (2004-06-14)'Autumn in New York" Suprised Box Office (2000-08-14)'Hollow Man' Brings in Bacon at Box Office (2000-08-07)Joan Chen stars behind the scenes (2000-02-05)Film star Joan Chen takes the stand in Shanghai court (1999-08-11)
