LDS Films Weekend Box Office Report 15 February 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 February 15, 2002 [If table lines up improperly, use mono-spaced font, i.e. Courier]

Natl  Film Title                       Weekend Gross
Rank  LDS/Mormon Filmmaker or Actor    Total Gross   Theaters Days
----  ------------------------------   -------        -----   ----
25    Ocean's Eleven                     $384,150        407    73
      LDS characters: Malloy twins    181,373,756

32    Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure    255,539         19   374
      Scott Swofford (producer)         7,709,153
      Reed Smoot (cinematographer)
      Sam Cardon (composer)
      Stephen L. Johnson (film editor)

33    Behind Enemy Lines                  174,765        278    80
      David Veloz (screenwriter)       58,360,599

44    Mulholland Drive                     75,925         55   133
      Joyce Eliason (producer/writer)   6,780,398

53    The Other Side of Heaven             30,103         14    66
      Mitch Davis (writer/director)     1,473,749
      John H. Groberg (author/character)
      Gerald Molen, John Garbett (producers)
      Steven Ramirez (film editor)

??    Out of Step (NEW)                    ??,000          7     3
      Ryan Little (director)               ??,000
      Cary Derbidge, Kenneth Marler (producers)
      Michael Buster, Willow Leigh Jones, Nikki Schmutz (writers)
      Merrill Jensen (composer)
      Michael Worthen (cinematographer)
      Actors: Alison Akin Clark, Jeremy Elliott, 
         Michael Buster, Tayva Patch, Rick Macy, etc.

??    The Singles Ward                     ??,000         11    17
      Kurt Hale (writer/director)         ???,000
      John E. Moyer (writer)
      Dave Hunter (producer)
      Cody Hale (composer)
      Ryan Little (cinematographer)
      Wynn Hougaard (film editor)
      Actors: Will Swenson, Connie Young,
         Daryn Tufts, Kirby Heyborne,
         Michael Birkeland, Robert Swenson,
         Lincoln Hoppe, Gretchen Whalley,
         Sedra Santos, etc.

61    Galapagos                            12,158          3   843
      Reed Smoot (cinematographer)     12,331,778

66    Out Cold                             10,411         19    89
      A. J. Cook (female lead)         13,903,262

69    Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man      9,018          2   654
      Reed Smoot (cinematographer)     13,081,986

74    China: The Panda Adventure            5,122          7   206
      Reed Smoot (cinematographer)      1,933,842

81    Island of the Sharks                  2,102          2  1025
      Alan Williams (composer)         10,630,313

The biggest news this week is the opening of the year's 2nd LDS genre film, "Out of Step," produced by Cary Derbidge and directed by Ryan Little. "Out of Step" opened just two weeks after "The Singles Ward" was released. Interestingly enough, "Out of Step" Ryan Little was the cinematographer on "The Singles Ward." Also, "The Other Side of Heaven," which opened over two months ago, is STILL playing in many Utah and Idaho theaters. This means that local audiences can currently choose between three different movies in the "LDS Cinema" genre (films made by AND about Latter-day Saints). (Moreover, according to the "Brigham City" website, that movie is still currently playing in one theater in Connecticut and another in California -- but those are places where the other movies are not showing.)

What we REALLY want to know is what I don't have yet -- sorry. I've nudged my contacts and checked the usual sources, but I don't have this week's box office performance for "Out of Step" or "The Singles Ward."

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME: Things are certainly shaping up for Neil LaBute's film adaptation of his highly successful play "The Shape of Things." This fast-track motion picture appears to be well under way, as IMDb.com already lists all of the key players. The film uses the cast from the stage production: Gretchen Mol, Paul Rudd (who appeared in LaBute's "bash: latterday plays"), Rachel Weisz, and Fred Weller. Producers are listed as LaBute himself, as long as his producing partner Gail Mutrux, and also Philip Steuer and cast member Rachel Weisz. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are executive producers. Cinematography will be by James L. Carter ("My Dog Skip"). Production design is by Lynette Meyer, who did the same job on LaBute's "Nurse Betty." Christopher H. Lawrence will be the Art Director. (He has previously worked on in the art department films such as "Austin Powers 2" and Kevin Costner's "Dragonfly", but this will be his first feature film in charge.) Felipe Borrero is the sound mixer, a position he also held on "Nurse Betty" (and, interestingly enough, on "The Fast and the Furious with Paul Walker). Hey! Where's Aaron!?!? Is LaBute really going to make a movie without Aaron Eckhart in it?

NOT MOVIES, BUT FUN ANYWAY: As has been reported in many places, the news season of "Survivor" (taking place in Marquesas) stars Neleh Dennis, a young Latter-day Saint beauty from Layton, Utah. Apparently CBS remembered that MTV's best-ever season of "Real World" owed its success to ex-BYU student Julie Stoffer's charm, and they recalled the original Survivor season's Kelly Wiglesworth, a less active Mormon seen praying on the show's finale just before winning 2nd place. Yet that same year's LDS-less "Big Brother" tanked. The lesson learned: Mormon mojo makes for media magic. CBS reports that the "luxury item" chose to take to the islands is her Scriptures.