Aside from the media trashing its stars, the more interesting story about Gigli is how poorly it performed in its opening weekend, even with the barrage of negativity and bad reviews. When was the last time a film came out in a wide release featuring two huge names and didn't break 4 million after three days? Even if you account for inflation and going back to the days when an opening of 15 million was impressive, I can't think of any film that quite matches up. To make things worse, it also came in behind Finding Nemo, which if you remember was released back in May!

You see, I'm a bit flustered because I was planning to write a piece about the old adage of "any news is good news" to explain why Gigli still managed to make over 10 million for the weekend, but the reality didn't even come close. I was going to applaud the folks who marketed the film for not trying to hide it from critics and simply rely on the drawing power of its stars, but in hindsight I suppose one could argue they made the wrong move. Whether or not this will lead to more poor quality films from being screened in advance is an interesting proposition.

Enough about Gigli. Aside from American Wedding stealing the top spot with 33.4 million, the big winner was without a doubt Seabiscuit, which held up extremely well in its second weekend with a take of about 17.6 million. The horse racing drama now looks to be in position for a run at 100 million, although next weekend will be crucial. As for the other films at the top, Spy Kids 3-D held up slightly better than expected with 19.5 million, while Pirates of the Caribbean continues to attract an audience with another 18.8 million - all but assuring a sequel. Bad Boys II landed in the fifth spot with 12.7 million and appears to be falling fast, while Tomb Raider II held up nicely with 11.4 million after a hugely disappointing first weekend.

Posted August 05, 2003 | link