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Show 'Shark Tale' stays afloat with $31. 3M weekend Cinema Sharks gobbled up a big piece of the box office pie this weekend, earning $31.7 million, with an impressive $87.7 million total. Unlike most of the films this summer which opened big and fell more than 50 percent the second week, DreamWorks' animated "A Shark Tale" fell only about 33 10-d- t; V II x Irf . percent. Despite swimming to the top 'spot for the second week in a row, these are probably not the big numbers that DreamWorks originally hoped for when it booked a huge 4,0 16-- t heater opening. The third largest opening of all time (as far as numbers of theaters) only garnered averan age, compared to first place's "Shrek 2" with $25,900 per' 2" screening and "Spider-Maat $21,000 per showing. None of the top 15 movies with the widest released theater openn ings have had such a poor average as "Shark Tale," n and this past weekend the average was $7,789. In second place was newcomd flick "Friday Night er Lights" starring Billy Bob Thorn$ll,853-per-showi- n per-scree- feel-goo- DAVID Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere JAMESMiramax Films star in "Shall We Dance?" ton. Opening at nearly $21 mild boost lion, it is a for Universal, which has fared poorly this summer with and "Wimbledon." much-neede- "Thun-derbird- i lie um it icu iiOMiu Zap2it.com Box Office Richard Gere kicks off his Sunday shoes in lively dance drama DAILY from behind almost every 's scene in director Peter Americanized redux. Chelsom and writer Audrey Wells' fidelity to their source material may, in fact, seem a tad slavish to fans of the .1996 version. Then again, why mess with a good thing? The first film is a charmer without much need of improvement. Small details, like the Gere character's profession, have been modified, but a considerable majority of scenes, characters and are almost entirely unchanged in translation. Gere's affably magnetic presence is greatly abetted by the casting of Susan Sarandon as Clark's passively detached wife, Beverly, and Jennifer Lopez as Paulina, the comely dance instructor who ignites Clark's interest in cutting a rug. All three leads do solid work with third-billeSarandon slightly outclassing her She has a nice arc involving a private investigator (winningly played by Richard Jenkins) hired by Beverly to Chel-som- HERALD n estate a wife kids starts late in the middle of the week with a bounce in his step and a whiff of strange perfume on his work shirts. Naturally, his spouse becomes concerned. It turns out that he's not exfoolin' around, however cept with his own guilty feet. Suddenly, morose John Clark (Richard Gere) has new passion, new purpose and a new set of shoes. Such is the power of ballroom dance in this airy remake of the 1996 Japanese film of the same title. With an cast, smooth choreography and slick production, "Shall We Dance?" aims to please and generally succeeds. . The original movie, distinctive in its lighthearted observa tion of a lugubrious accountant who transcends cultural mores and discovers joie de vivre on the dance floor, peeps out Abuttoned-dow- all-st- dia-log- d s. investigate her husband's strange behavior and crisply attends to the film's meatiest soliloquy, a tender statement of Beverly's philosophy on marriage. (Gere's big moment is, preg jusdictably, a tification of Clark's deception of his wife. Lopez, whose arrest ingly toned abs practically deserve their own screen credit, delivers a welcome jolt of charisma with her her o lightly comic tirade about the essence of the rumba.) The movie also gets a lot of mileage out of its bevy of colorful supporting players: Stanley Tucci energetically plays a of Clark's frustrated at having to hide his proclivities from his peers . and gets belly laughs for a snippet with Gere in the executive washroom. Anita Gillette brings poise and charm to the sprightly teacher in charge of Clark's class and Lisa Walter provides consistent comic relief and a dose of poignance as a loudmouthed blonde who harbors a crush on "the shy older guy fences-mendin- pre-J-L- g Compiled by Exhibitor fieafons Co and Nielsen EDI Inc lor fcf EriddySundSy Review ' 1. 'Shark Tale,' DreamWorks, $31,330,299, 4,070 locations, $7,698 average, $87,350,275, two weeks. Shall We Dance? 2. "Friday Night Lights," Universal, $20,269,025, 2,667 locations, $7,600 Director Peter Chelsom Cast Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci Running time: 1 hr., 46 min. some sexual Rating: references and brief language Location: Opens Friday in theaters everywhere with the nice-smelli- sweat." "Shall We Dance?' cares more about the freedom and excitement of a tight twirl than about the lives of real people, so it suffers in the end g resolufrom a tion that allows Clark to have his Beverly and get a taste of Paulina, too. On the other hand, if you don't know that the movie is going there from the first frame, then you probably don't see many like it. Like any good routine, the steps are familiar. Success is in bogus-seemin- the execution. average, $20,269,025, one week. 3. 'Ladder 49,' Disney, $13,105,177, $4,01 9 average,, $41,025,820, two weeks. 3,261 locations, 4. "Taxi," Fox, $12,029,832, 3,001 locations, $4,009 average, $12,650,911, one week. 5. "The Forgotten," Sony, $7,605,742, $2,551 average, $48,721,387, three weeks. ' 2,981 locations, 6 "Raise Your Voice," New Line, $4,022,693, 2,521 locations, $1,5 average, $4,022,693, one week. 7. 'Sky Captain and the World of ' TomoiTOW," Paramount $2,341,872, 1,743 locations, $1,344 average, $33,932,601, four weeks. 8. "Shaun of the Dead," Focus Features, $1,708,113, 675 locations, $2,531 average, $9,457,504, three weeks. 9. "The Motorcycle Diaries," Focus Features, $1,510,020, 167 locations, $9,042 average, $3,293,132, three weeks. 10. "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," Sony Screen Gems, $1,253,117, 1,217 locations, $1,030 average, $49,010,903, five weeks. |
