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Rapper Ice Cube Hot at Frozen Box Office
2005-01-23
LOS ANGELES - Rapper-turned-filmmaker Ice Cube heated up the weekend box office in North America even as a blizzard blanketed large chunks of the U.S. Northeast and dampened overall ticket sales.According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, Ice Cube's new comedy "Are We There Yet?" opened at No. 1 with sales of about $18.5 million in the three days beginning Jan. 21, exceeding the expectations of its distributor, Columbia Pictures. Last weekend's champion, the Samuel L. Jackson basketball drama "Coach Carter" (Paramount), slipped to No. 2 with $11 million, followed by the Ben Stiller family comedy "Meet the Fockers" (Universal) with $10.2 million. The workplace comedy-drama "In Good Company" (Universal) starring Dennis Quaid, held steady at No. 4 with $8.5 million, while the barnyard comedy "Racing Stripes" (Warner Bros.) fell two places to No. 5 with $7.1 million, narrowly ahead of new entry "Assault on Precinct 13" (Rogue Pictures) with $7.0 million. All the studios said they were affected by the blizzard, which buried large parts of northeastern United States under several feet of snow, severely curbed road and air travel and cut power to thousands of customers. One studio estimated overall business was hit by as much as 25 percent. "Are We There Yet?" could have made an extra $1 million if Saturday's matinee screenings had not been snowed out, said Tom Sherak, a partner at the film's producer, Revolution Studios. Nonetheless, the $32 million film still managed to exceed his expectations, which were in the $14 million-$15 million range. ROAD MOVIE Ice Cube (ne O'Shea Jackson), whose Cube Vision banner also produced the film, stars as a suitor who must impress his would-be girlfriend (Nia Long) by taking her two incorrigible children on a road trip. While Ice Cube's hugely profitable "Friday" and "Barbershop" series were critically acclaimed, the reviews for his latest outing were not so kind. Columbia is a unit of Sony Corp. , which has a production and distribution arrangement with Revolution Studios. After two weeks, the total for "Coach Carter" stands at $43.2 million, while "Fockers" has tallied $247.7 million after five weeks, making it the No. 2 live-action comedy of all time, behind 1990's "Home Alone" ($285.5 million). "In Good Company" has made $28 million after two weekends in wide release, and "Racing Stripes" $27.3 million in the same time. With a $7 million bow, "Assault on Precinct 13," a remake of director John Carpenter's 1976 cult thriller, came in "a little under" expectations of $10 million, said Jack Foley, president of distribution at Focus Features, the parent company of nascent genre banner Rogue Pictures. Since its release last Wednesday, the film has earned $8.6 million. But with a budget in the $20 million range, Foley said the company would do all right financially. Ethan Hawke stars as a cop who must protect the prisoners he is guarding at his police station from an attack by rogue officers. Laurence Fishburne and John Leguizamo co-star. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc . Universal Pictures and Focus Features are units of General Electric Co. -controlled NBC Universal. Warner Bros. Pictures is a unit of Time Warner Inc . Reuters
Rapper Ice Cube Hot at Frozen Box Office (2005-01-23)1 (11285)
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