'THE SIXTH SENSE' TURNS INTO A MOVIE PHENOMENON

"Not every gift is a blessing," goes the tag for the creepy suspense thriller "The Sixth Sense." Maybe not, but Disney isn't complaining.

Last weekend, the modestly priced "The Sixth Sense" overtook the big-ticket special effects extravaganza "Armageddon" as Disney's biggest-grossing live-action film ever. About the only other thing the two films have in common is star Bruce Willis.

Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, 29, received $3 million for the script two years ago, one of the highest amounts ever paid for a screenplay. Now his movie has grossed more than $200 million heading into this, its seventh weekend. It was the No. 1 movie in the country for five straight weeks until bumped off the perch last weekend by "Stigmata."

It is a history-making phenomenon, a movie that has made a name for itself primarily through word of mouth about the startlingly good performances and an ending that has some people going back for a second viewing to double-check what they saw.

The only other film in history to have five $20 million weekends was "Titanic." "The Sixth Sense" already is the 29th highest grossing film of all time, ranking just behind "Gone With the Wind."

"The Sixth Sense" set a Labor Day holiday record with a $28.5 million take, eclipsing the old four-day total of $17.2 million set by "The Fugitive" in 1993.

Clint Welker, general manager at the Town Plaza Cinemas, said the movie opened to good audiences.

"But the next weekend we got an even bigger crowd," he said. "Usually that doesn't happen."

On subsequent weekends, showings were sold out. Last weekend was the first in which the movie's audience declined.

If a random survey at the 4:50 p.m. showing Friday is any indication, those who haven't seen "The Sixth Sense" at least once are people who aren't in a hurry to see any movie.

John Stratton of Cape Girardeau didn't know what the movie was about.

"We're just having a date," he said, smiling at his wife, Janice.

They'd seen Haley Joel Osment, who plays a boy who sees dead people, on Jay Leno's TV show, and their son, Joshua, had told them the movie is good. They hoped he was right.

"I'm not into screaming movies," Janice said.

"I heard it's more cerebral," John said.

Randy and Debbie Berger came all the way from St. Louis to see "The Sixth Sense." Actually, they are here to see their 16-year-old daughter, Stacey, play in a softball tournament today at Jackson and were looking for something to do Friday afternoon.

After sampling the SEMO District Fair, the Bergers decided on a movie.

They see only about six films a year. He likes action adventure movies, she prefers dramas, so "The Sixth Sense" was a compromise safari into the unknown.

Randy had heard only that there's a surprise ending. "I don't know what this one's about," Debbie said.

Friends Missy Craft of Jackson and Kristi Burks of Cape Girardeau were happily ignorant about the movie as well. Friends told them they had to see it but wouldn't say anything more.

"Is this scary?" Burks asked.

"We know he sees dead people," Craft said.

To Lori Boyston of Cape Girardeau, "Anything with Bruce Willis is usually good." Willis plays a child psychologist trying to help the boy.

She heard one critic saying Osment might be nominated for an Academy Award.

"The Sixth Sense" was the first movie she and her companion, Tim Mueller of Cape Girardeau, had seen in two months. That last one was the Star Wars movie, "The Phantom Menace," rated No. 3 on the all-time list.

The secret to the movie's success may be its twists and broad appeal, Welker said, adding:

"We've had families, and it's a good date movie. It's pretty good for anybody."