LDS Films Weekend Box Office Report 16 August 2002

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Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of August 16, 2002 [If table lines up improperly, use mono-spaced font, i.e. Courier]

Natl  Film Title                Weekend Gross
Rank  LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Star   Total Gross Theaters Days
---  ----------------------------- -----------  -----  ----
 9   Master of Disguise              3,163,909  2,137    17
     Perry Andelin Blake (director) 30,288,416

13   Possession                      1,575,214    270     3
     Neil LaBute (writer/director)   1,575,214
     Aaron Eckhart (lead male actor)

17   Minority Report                   564,101    506    59
     Gerald Molen (producer)       129,115,416

38   The Divine Secrets of the          85,469    122    73
     Ya-Ya Sisterhood               68,684,817

36   ESPN's Ultimate X                  61,424     34   101
     Reed Smoot (cinematographer)    3,858,983
     
49   Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure   48,745     13   556
     Scott Swofford (producer)      13,180,017
     Reed Smoot (cinematographer)
     Sam Cardon (composer)
     Stephen L. Johnson (film editor)

62   Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man   28,114      8   836
     Reed Smoot (cinematographer)   13,792,792

68   China: The Panda Adventure         19,721      6   388
     Reed Smoot (cinematographer)    2,776,037

78   Galapagos                          10,813      5  1025
     Reed Smoot (cinematographer)   13,626,159
     
87   Ziggy Stardust & Spiders from Mars  4,396      4    40
     Mick Ronson (2nd billed actor)     70,199

106  The Other Side of Heaven            2,018      3   248
     Mitch Davis (writer/director)   4,683,217
     John H. Groberg (author/character)
     Gerald Molen, John Garbett (producers)
     Steven Ramirez (film editor)

109  Mark Twain's America 3D             1,203      1  1508
     Alan Williams (composer)        2,262,215

POSSESSION: BYU graduate Neil LaBute's fourth feature film "Possession" opened with impressive figures. The film came in at #13 for the weekend - apparently low for an opening weekend of a major film with a couple of well-known lead actors like Gwyneth Paltrow and LaBute's fellow BYU graduate Aaron Eckhart. But this was a limited release. A close look at the numbers shows that the film played in a mere 270 theaters - a very limited release for a major studio opening weekend - and based on its $5,834 gross income per theater, it appears quite likely that the film will more widely released very soon. For comparison, the blockbuster hit "Signs" which came in at the #2 slot for the weekend pulled in $5,790 per theater, but it played in 3,344 theaters. "Possession" ranked in the Top 10 movies this week for per-theater gross. COMING UP NEXT, the limited nationwide release of Latter-day Saint director Blair Treu's "Little Secrets" (previously titled "The Secret Keeper"). The family-friendly film that manages to entertain both children and adults actually had its official premiere last night (August 19th) at the Salt Lake Children's Film Festival. There have also been several preview screenings in various locations across the Wasatch Front, with response from those attending being very positive - including from LDSFilm.com co-webmaster Thomas C. Baggaley. The actual nationwide release date is this Friday, August 23rd. MASTER AT THE BOX OFFICE: Director Perry Andelin Blake feature film "Master of Disguise", starring Dana Carvey, reached a U.S. box office gross of over $30 million this week. This means that "Master of Disguise" passed Neil LaBute's "Nurse Betty" to become the top-grossing (at the box office) non-animated dramatic feature film directed by a Latter-day Saint ever (or at least as far as we have records for). ("Master" is still surpassed by 2 feature documentaries and 3 animated features.) In its third weekend of release, "Master of Disguise" ranked 9th at the box office nationwide. In related news, Roger Ebert reported in his "Movie Answer Man" column that the folks at RottenTomatoes.com told him "Master of Disguise" is the worst-reviewed film they have any record of. Apparently critics and moviegoers disagree on this one. SPENCER CHRISTENSEN, Salt Lake City-based filmmaker and current University of Utah film student, has posted an impressive and highly energetic trailer for his upcoming short film "Nowhere to Run." Premise: A man is selected to win the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, but he is in the Witness Protection Program. Check it out: http://www.mecworks.com/~spencer/video/no_where.mov SALT LAKE CITY FILM FESTIVAL: The first-ever Salt Lake City Film Festival will be held August 22-24 at Salt Lake Community College. Founded by Wayne L. Lee, the festival will showcase artistically excellent new films which are free from gratuitous objectionable content such as graphic violence, vulgarity, and sex. The list of Latter-day Saint filmmakers whose films and/or screenplays are competing in the 2002 Salt Lake City Film Festival includes (but is not limited to): Craig Lofgreen, Mark Goodman, Chris Heimerdinger, Scott Tiffany, Spencer Christensen, Christian Vuissa, Jeanne McKinney, and J. Daniel Nell. The following films will be shown at the Festival: Muhammed Ali: Through the Eyes of the World (2001) Directed by Phil Grabsky (United Kingdom) 78 min. Feature-length documentary Follow the Leader (2002) Directed by Paul Cross (USA) 58 min. Feature-length documentary Walk to Survival (2001) Directed by Craig Lofgreen (Seattle, WA) 58 min. Quest for the Grail (2002) Directed by D J Kadagian (USA) 50 min. 100 Days (2001) Directed by Nick Hughes (Kenya/United Knigdom) 100 min. Someone Was Watching (2002) Directed by Mark Goodman (Utah) 88 min. West End Story (2001) Directed by Paul Cross (USA) 55 min. Feature-length documentary Lehi's Land of First Inheritance (2002) Directed by Chris Heimerdinger (Utah) 60 min. Feature-length documentary The Poor Made by God (2002) Directed by Qian Yu (Canada) 48 min. Feature-length documentary No es Facil: Cuban Life on Either Side of the Florida Straits (2002) Directed by Bobby Farlice-Rubio (USA/Cuba) 60 min. Feature-length documentary Party Animals (2000) Directed by Chaille Stovall (Miami, Florida) 58 min. Documentary Forgotten Voyage: The Mormon Sea Trek that Sparked the Gold Rush (2002) Directed by Scott Tiffany (New York City) 59 min. Feature-length documentary Prisoners of Freedom (2002) Directed by Owen Shapiro (USA) 89 min. Feature-length documentary SHORT FILMS: The Book and the Rose (2001) Directed by Jeff Bemiss (USA), based on the short story by Max Lucado. 29 min. The Lost Boys of Sudan (2002) Directed by Spencer Christensen (Utah) 7 min. Documentary Left Handed Directed by Baoqi Ye (Canada) 10 min. Bravo, Giorgio! (2001) Directed by John Plausse (USA) 9 min. Insanity (2001) Directed by Joe Sasich (Utah) 8 min. Life Chronicles I: Another (2002) Directed by James Dalrymple (USA) 26 min. Rocks and Chocolate (2001) Directed by Teddy Sharkova (USA) 12 min. Terzo e Mondo (Third and World) (1996) Directed by Daniele Pignatelli (Italy) 30 min. Vacation (2002) Directed by Barbara Stepansky (USA) 12 min. Roots & Wings (2002) Directed by Christian Vuissa (Austria/Utah) 28 min Homer G. Phillips...The Lost Leader (2001) Directed by Michele Walton (USA) 29 min. Documentary Carver Court Connections (2001) Directed by Michael Green (USA) 27 min. Documentary Bolted (2001) Directed by Scott Bogonieski (USA) 3 min. Animated SHORT SHORTS, shown before select films: Elija's Story Memories of You (All the Loss) Shattered Dreams (directed by Jeanne McKinney) SPECIAL "BEST OF" SCREENINGS: Best of... 2001 Utah High School Film Festival Best of... 2002 Thunderbird Int'l Film Festival Best of... 2002 Young LDS Film Festival SCREENPLAY COMPETITION: "Ancient Warrior and the Atucan City of Gold" by Jeanne McKinney "Butterfly in Winter" by Jeanne McKinney "Forgotten Voyage" by Scott Tiffany "Hector Hawkins" by Paul Cross "Imagine" by John VonLunen "One Night at a Train Station" by J. Daniel Nell "The Appointment" by J. Daniel Nell "The One-Bruise Ball" by Mike Marsh

Individuals scheduled to speak, perform, give presentations, or appear on discussion panels include: John J. Lee, Jr., actress Mowava Pryor, LDS British singer Alex BoyÈ, LDS singer Bret Raymond, LDS pop group Kalai, Gregory C. Haynes (Director, Slow, Cowboys and Angels) Jeanne McKinney (Writer, Shattered Dreams), Michael Birkeland (Exhibitor, Singles Ward), Paul Cross (Co-Producer, Follow the Leader, West End Story), Dean Hale (Excel Entertainment), James Dalrymple (Director, Life Chronicles I: Another) Richard Dutcher (Director, God's Army, Brigham City), Jeff Simpson (Excel Entertainment), Scott Tiffany (Director, Forgotten Voyage), Kurt Hale (Director, Singles Ward), Matthew Williams (Director of Photography), Bob Bratt (Executive Director, Yellowstone Film Festival), Christian Vuissa (Director, Roots and Wings).