Hollywood has good weekend despite Super Bowl

LOS ANGELES -- For a Super Bowl weekend, when many movie-goers stay at home, Hollywood had a fairly strong showing, with the top 12 movies grossing $91 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. During Super Bowl weekend last year, the top 12 took in $73.4 million.

The horror flick "Boogeyman" was at the top of the weekend box office with a $19.5 million debut.

"Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi's film about a man who tries to overcome his fear of what's lurking in the closet by spending a night in his boyhood home beat romantic comedy "The Wedding Date," which opened at No. 2 with $11 million.

The road-trip comedy "Are We There Yet?" slipped into third with $10.4 million, raising its total after 17 days to $51.1 million. Last weekend's No. 1 movie, "Hide and Seek," dropped into fourth place with $8.9 million, lifting its 10-day gross to $35.7 million.

As with recent horror movies "Hide and Seek," "White Noise," and "Saw," "Boogeyman" overcame harsh critical reaction to draw in the faithful horror crowd. "Boogeyman" was not screened for critics, generally a sign that the studio knows a movie will get bad reviews.

Helping prime the path, the trailer for "Boogeyman" ran before screenings of "The Grudge," allowing the new movie to ride the coattails of that $100 million hit. The movie was made by horror-production outfit, Ghost House Pictures, which also made "The Grudge."

"I certainly believe it's a genre where people are going to be more moved by the marketing materials they see for the movie than by what the critics say," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony Pictures, whose Screen Gems banner released "Boogeyman."

Many fright flicks tend to open well then quickly vanish from theaters as the horror audience moves on to something else. Produced for just $7 million, though, "Boogeyman" should turn a tidy profit even if revenues nosedive in subsequent weekends.

Another comparatively low-cost movie that is expected to turn a solid profit despite being trashed by critics is "The Wedding Date." With a budget under $15 million, the film stars Debra Messing as a woman who hires a male escort as her companion to a wedding to show up her ex-fiance, who is the best man.

Using Messing's audience appeal from her sit-com "Will & Grace" and a relative lack of current movie choices for women, "The Wedding Date" was able to draw in a good portion of the female crowd. Women accounted for three-fourths of the movie's audience.

"I've always believed you don't have to have a big budget to have a successful movie if you have the benefit of a movie that hits a basic appeal button," said "Wedding Date" producer Paul Brooks, whose other low-budget hits include "White Noise" and the romantic comedy blockbuster "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Boogeyman," $19.5 million.

2. "The Wedding Date," $11 million.

3. "Are We There Yet?", $10.4 million.

4. "Hide and Seek," $8.9 million.

5. "Million Dollar Baby," $8.8 million.

6. "The Aviator," $5.4 million.

7. "Meet the Fockers," $5 million.

8. "Sideways," $4.8 million.

9. "Racing Stripes," $4.43 million.

10. "Coach Carter," $4.4 million.