Date: 17th January 2001

Dance Dances Away With $27.5 million


Business at the nation's theaters on Monday, the Martin Luther King holiday, far exceeded studio expectations with revenue for the top 50 films totaling $170 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

The previous record for a King holiday was set in 1998 when the box office, helped by a steaming Titanic, earned $132 million. Virtually all films performed better than had been forecast.

Save the Last Dance topped the list for the four-day weekend as it took in $27.5 million, more than twice what it cost to produce. In second place was Cast Away, which earned $19.8 million. Traffic came in third with $13.4 million. Double Take's take was 11.7 million, putting it in fourth place, ahead of What Women Want, which earned 11.6 million. Thirteen Days followed in sixth place with 11.3 million, just ahead of Finding Forrester's $11.1 million. Other top finishers: 8. Miss Congeniality, 10.6 million; 9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, $10.3 million, and 10. The Emperor's New Groove, $7.8 million.

Source: Studio Briefing