‘Varsity’ Opens at No. 1, but the Box-Office Battle Is for No. 2

Though “Varsity Blues” tackled the No. 1 position at the box office with an estimated $14.3 million in the first three days of the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, the holiday was generally kinder to the older movies in theaters than to the new arrivals.

Of the five movies that broke nationally this weekend, only “Varsity Blues” and “The Thin Red Line” had any impact. “At First Sight,” “Virus” and “In Dreams” simply couldn’t compete with “A Civil Action” or “Patch Adams,” which were in a heated battle for second place. And none of the freshmen class had the kind of Friday-to-Saturday leap in business enjoyed by the more established films, indicating that their audiences are limited and they’ll need word of mouth to cross over and become long-term players.

In what could be called cross-synergy, Paramount Pictures’ and MTV’s “Varsity Blues” broke the record for the Martin Luther King weekend largely on the shoulders of the WB network’s teen idol James Van Der Beek, star of the series “Dawson’s Creek.” “Varsity” played in 2,121 theaters and could bring in as much as $17 million in its first four days, or more than it cost (reportedly under $15 million). It played straight down the middle to teenagers who are always available for this kind of film on weekends, according to Paramount sources.

Terrence Malick’s disquisition on the nature of war, “The Thin Red Line,” expanded to 1,528 theaters and began the weekend battle in second place.

Because of its three-hour length, however, “Line” lost ground on Saturday and was outmaneuvered by “Civil Action” and “Patch.” Still, it was a close fourth with a three-day estimate of $10.5 million (and as much as $13 million for the four days), answering the question of whether the rather arty war film could play outside of big cities.

As expected, the film’s audience was largely male and older, and its per-screen average was best among the top 10--just under $7,000 a screen. That gives “Thin” a hefty $13.5 million so far and more than $15 million if Monday business holds up.

As for the rest of the weekend’s new arrivals, apart from energizing attendance levels, they largely split the spoils of the holiday weekend.

Best of the pack was MGM’s first movie in some time, “At First Sight,” the inspirational romance starring Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino, which took in an estimated $7.7 million in its first three days on 1,814 screens.

The unscreened “Virus” didn’t spread very far, with only $5 million projected in its first three days in 2,020 theaters. Even worse was Neil Jordan’s spooky “In Dreams,” which earned a paltry $4 million in its 1,670 engagements.

The holdovers lost little of their luster. The courtroom drama “A Civil Action” amassed a projected $10.9 million for the three days on 2,001 screens (and about $12.5 million projected for four days), bringing the film to a better than $30 million total in its first 10 days of national release.

The month-old “Patch Adams” was projecting just a hair behind “Civil” at $10.7 million or so. The film is now only a couple of days away from the $100 million level.

Even closer to the century mark is the romance “You’ve Got Mail,” which hauled in an estimated $6 million over the weekend on 2,554 screens, taking it to $98.3 million.

The weepy “Stepmom” held on tenaciously to sixth place with another $6.8 million in 2,358 theaters and is now at $71 million in its first month in theaters.

“Prince of Egypt” is showing resiliency with $5 million in its fifth weekend (and more than $6.5 million projected for the four days) despite losing more than 700 screens (it’s now in 2,215 theaters). By the end of the holiday weekend, “Prince” should be close to $83 million.

Tenth place again fell to “Shakespeare in Love,” with $4 million from Friday to Sunday from only 648 theaters, virtually even with last weekend, with almost $21 million so far and Oscar season just around the corner.