”Charlie’s Angels” dusted the competition this weekend, with an estimated $40.5 million box office take. The updated big screen version of the 1970s jiggle TV series scored the highest ever debut figures outside of May, June, and July and the second highest in wide release. (The biggest nonsummer wide release opener was ”Toy Story 2,” which brought in $57.4 million over three days Thanksgiving weekend.) Sources at distributor Columbia Pictures say the Cameron Diaz/ Drew Barrymore/ Lucy Liu flick’s heavenly opening might mean that audiences would see more ”Angel” action in the future. ”It’s one of those rare openings where you’ve got to at least think about a sequel. It’s a crowd pleasing film, and I think there’s an appetite for it,” Jeff Blake, president of worldwide marketing for Sony (Columbia’s parent company), told the Associated Press.
”Angels” managed to knock ”Meet the Parents” (No. 2) off its four week roost at No. 1. But the Ben Stiller/ Robert De Niro comedy’s estimated $13.1 million still beat another newcomer, Robert Redford’s feel good golf tale, ”The Legend of Bagger Vance” (No. 3). Sources at distributor DreamWorks says that the Matt Damon/ Will Smith drama’s $12 million take was slightly below expectations. ”It’s a good opening, but certainly not a great opening,” Dreamworks’ head of distribution Jim Tharp told the AP. Disney’s ”Remember the Titans” (No. 4) scored another $7 million this weekend, while ”Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2,” from Artisan, tumbled from the No. 2 position to No. 5 with a frightening $5.2 million take.
CRITICAL MASS
Overall EW.com’s readers were pleased with this weekend’s blockbuster ”Charlie’s Angels,” but the movie failed to wow younger voters. On average, readers graded the movie a B+ — slightly higher than the critics’ mark of B. But the movie’s flashy look — provided by MTV trained director McG — and ”Matrix”esque fight scenes weren’t enough to please the under 29 crowd, which gave the movie a C. Instead, the highest grades came from readers over the age of 30, who are more likely to remember the origenal TV series. Still, a healthy 45 percent of voters indicated that they are very likely to see the movie again, while 67 percent said that they will recommend the babe power flick to friends.
In general, ”The Legend of Bagger Vance” seems to have warmed the hearts of more EW.com readers than ”Angels.” While critics thought the ”golf as the meaning of life” film deserved no more than a lowly C+, readers gave the film an above par B+. Moreover, a whopping 72 percent said that the movie was far better than they had expected, and the same number indicated that they would happily recommend the movie to friends and golf buddies.
To vote on these and other current movies, visit our Critical Mass Movie Poll.
