‘Star Wars’ tops $200 million mark in record time

Tuesday, June 1, 1999 | 9:47 a.m.

"Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" topped the four-day holiday box office with $64.8 million, for a total gross of $205 million in less than two weeks. "Independence Day" needed 30 days to reach the mark in 1996.

The movie's average ticket sales per screen were through the roof at $21,436, indicating packed houses.

"The movie's like a thoroughbred. We put it on the track every day and it doesn't disappoint you," said Tom Sherak, distribution head for 20th Century Fox.

Now that hardcore fans have seen it, families are the key to the repeat business the movie will need to thrive as it faces the summer blockbuster season in a month or so, Sherak said.

The only other new film in wide release, "The Thirteenth Floor," opened in fifth place. The science fiction film noir had a disappointing $4.3 million, industry estimates showed Monday.

Meanwhile, counterprogramming paid off big-time for "Notting Hill," which grossed $27.8 million - the best opening ever for a movie starring Ms. Roberts movie or a romantic comedy.

Ms. Roberts' comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding" opened with $21.7 million over three days in 1997, while the comparable three-day figure for "Notting Hill" was $22.2 million. Of course, "Notting Hill" was playing on about 600 more screens than "Wedding" and ticket prices are higher.

"We are absolutely thrilled," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal.

"The Love Letter," also billed as a romantic alternative, tanked in its second week, dropping out of the top 10 list with a meager gross of $1.3 million.

One reason: "The Love Letter" starred Tom Selleck. "Notting Hill" had Ms. Roberts.

Polled audiences said "the main reason they came was for Julia Roberts and the second reason they came was for the romance," Ms. Rocco said.

She had no qualms about putting "Notting Hill" up against the second week of "Star Wars."

"I thought it was a brilliant strategy," she said. "The marketplace has got to support more than one movie. There are different tastes."

"Star Wars" locked up the children's audience and the "thrill ride" fans, Ms. Rocco said, while the love story between Ms. Roberts as a Hollywood star and Hugh Grant as a quirky British bookstore owner drew an older crowd.

Universal's strategy to open ahead and behind of "Star Wars" paid off. "The Mummy," the studio's own thrill ride movie, was in third place with $12.7 million. It has grossed $117.1 million in four weeks. Playing on an enormous 3,395 screens, the movie take per theater was a respectable $3,741, although it was dwarfed by the $10,128 average for "Notting Hill."

Estimated grosses for Friday through Monday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., with final figures to be released today:

1. "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace," $64.8 million.

2. "Notting Hill," $27.8 million.

3. "The Mummy," $12.7 million.

4. "Entrapment," $6.3 million.

5. "The Thirteenth Floor," $4.3 million.

6. "The Matrix," $3.1 million.

7. "William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream," $2.004 million.

8. "Never Been Kissed," $2 million.

9. "Life," $1.4 million.

10. "Election," $1.38 million.