It’s a Full House at ‘Momma’s’

A guy in a dress is never a drag at the box office. With a formula as time-tested as “Charley’s Aunt,” “Big Momma’s House” didn’t need comforting reviews to give “M:I-2” a run for its money, only petticoats.

The Martin Lawrence comedy came close to toppling the early summer leader with an estimated debut of $25.6 million on 2,802 screens, much better than even the rosiest projections. “Momma” is 20th Century Fox’s biggest opening in some time, and studio senior executive Tom Sherak says the audience was overwhelmingly female (60%) and under 25 (58%). Exit surveys indicated an 80% recommend level, which means “Momma” should be queen of the comedy castle until Jim Carrey in “Me, Myself and Irene” (also from Fox) chucks her out later in the month.

Despite an expected drop of 53% from its red-hot Memorial Day weekend, “M:I-2” managed to defend the top of the box-office heap with $27 million projected on 3,653 screens. It has grossed more than $130 million in less than two weeks in theaters. The Tom Cruise action sequel has established itself as the film to beat for summer 2000, and in a couple of weeks the contenders will start to emerge. Next weekend brings the first of many summer action competitors, “Gone in Sixty Seconds” starring Nicolas Cage and Anjelina Jolie.

For the time being, fifth place “Gladiator” is the year’s top-grossing film with almost $139 million to date, of which an estimated $8.1 million was realized in its fifth weekend battle on 3,056 screens.

“Dinosaur” didn’t quite make it to $100 million, but came close in its third weekend. It added another $12 million or so in 3,319 theaters, marking time as the school year draws to a close with almost $97 million to date.

Fourth place fell to “Shanghai Noon,” which held with a more than good 45% drop from its debut to $8.6 million in 2,745 engagements and is shaping into a modest hit with almost $32 million in its first 10 days.

“Road Trip” also managed to survive “Big Momma” with an estimated $6.7 million on 2,654 screens and a three-week total of $45.5 million.

According to the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, ticket sales for the weekend after Memorial Day compare favorably with last year. The top 12 films brought in an estimated $95.8 million this weekend, a cozy 22% ahead of last year’s $78.7 million.

The bottom rungs of the top 10 hold largely films that will be superseded in weeks to come by newer, fresher titles. “Frequency” is still loud and clear with $2.1 million anticipated in 1,605 theaters and a winning total of almost $38 million to date. “Small Time Crooks” fell to $1.7 million in its third weekend in 874 theaters for an $11.2 million haul to date. “U-571” is rounding out a profitable mission with $1.4 million in 1,591 theaters and $71 million to date.

“Center Stage” is running out of audience with just $1.1 million in its fourth weekend in 1,362 theaters and $14.4 million in its first month.

The limited debut of Sony’s “Running Free” was constrained to only $55,000 in 100 theaters.