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Lilo And Stitch battles Cruise
Animated film gives Minority Report a run for its money
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Arthur J Pais
The big news, some may say, is that the animated comedy Lilo And Stitch grossed about $35 million in its opening weekend, fighting for the top position with Steven Spielberg's Minority Report starring the seemingly infallible Tom Cruise.
But, to some, the big news is that Lilo And Stitch managed to do great business even though another family-oriented film, Scooby-Doo, continued with its strong performance at the box office.
Though the Warner Bros comedy took a big hit when Lilo And Stitch, a Walt Disney film, opened on Friday, it still grossed an appetising $24 million, taking its gross to $100 million in just 10 days. In its opening weekend, Scooby-Doo had grabbed about $54 million.
Expect both films to gross at least $135 million in North America alone, with more bucks rolling in when the films hit the DVD and video circuit about nine months later.
Some box office observers believe Lilo And Stitch might show stronger legs and end up with more money than Scooby-Doo.
It is also one of the better reviewed of recent movies.
Lilo And Stitch offers the tale of a young girl's close encounter with the most wanted extraterrestrial in the galaxy. Lilo, a Hawaiian girl adopts Stitch, a small ugly 'dog'. Stitch would have made a perfect pet, capable of making lonely Lilo's life more interesting. In reality, Stitch is a genetic experiment who has escaped from an alien planet.
But Lilo will not give up hope. She has faith and conviction in her abilities to transform Stitch. She also believes that 'ohana' (the Hawaiian concept of family) will help her make Stitch respond to love and affection.
Her faith is vindicated when Stitch starts acquiring the ability to care for others.
Though some critics thought that the film about two misfits was a bit drab and uninspiring, most major critics gave Lilo And Stitch above average rating.
Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times, who could not enjoy Scooby-Doo, found the new film to be "one of the most charming feature-length cartoons of recent years..."
Cincinnati Enquirer's Margaret A McGurk called it "...an animated charmer of a comedy..." while the influential trade publication, Hollywood Reporter, called the film, "...fresh and delightful."
There was praise for the film on the West Coast as well as the East.
While Los Angeles Times's Kenneth Turan thought the film was "...a happy throwback...," New York Post's Lou Lumenick pronounced the film to be "...arguably the most irresistible hand-drawn Disney cartoon since The Lion King."
Even The New York Times, which does not embrace kid movies easily, found the film "...a sweet, charming tale of intergalactic friendship."
The strong opening of Minority Report and steady business of such films as Scooby-Doo, The Sum Of All Fears ($97 million in 24 days and still counting) and The Bourne Identity ($54 million in 10 days) have more than compensated the dismal performance of the two big budget action flicks, The Windtalkers and Bad Company. Each would be lucky to gross $50 million in North America.
Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, another family-oriented film, continues to do well. The highly emotional saga has grossed about $58 million in three weeks and is on its way to grab at least another $20 million.
Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox said it was more than happy with the Minority Report gross. Studio honchos said the well-received Spielberg film was meant for mature audiences and they hoped it would stay around for a long time.
'This is an original movie,' Fox's Bruce Snyder told Reuters. 'This is a movie that requires [viewers to ask], 'What is it?''
If the film does not dive deeply next week, it could earn about $130 million in North America. But that will not be enough for it to break even, since it cost about $100 million. It will have to do better business abroad to make a profit.