'Wedding Planner' fends off slice-and-dice 'Valentine'

The horror flick "Valentine," about a serial killer preying on beautiful women, overcame bad reviews to open in second place with a respectable $10.1 million. The movie stars David Boreanaz and Denise Richards.

The weekend's other new movie, "Head Over Heels," fared poorly with just $5 million, finishing at No. 7. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Monica Potter star in the comedy about a woman who suspects her new beau may be a murderer.

While no one film dominated the market, the overall box office still managed to increase. The top 12 films grossed $73.8 million, up 2.3 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when "Scream 3" opened with a whopping $34.7 million.

"This is just a testament to the strength of the holdovers that are in the marketplace right now," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the box office.

Films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Traffic," and "Finding Forrester" continue to hold strongly. "Chocolat" climbed into the top 10 for the first time with $3.7 million, grossing more than it did last weekend even though its theater count dropped by 30 to 1,173 cinemas.

"Cast Away" also held well at No. 3 with $7.41 million, becoming the third movie released in 2000 to pass $200 million. The others were "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Mission: Impossible 2."

The box office has been up every weekend this year. That trend is certain to continue next weekend with the premiere of the heavily anticipated "Hannibal," sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs."

While "Valentine" and "Head Over Heels" did not have huge debuts, their relatively small budgets made them low risks. "Valentine" cost $10 million, while "Head Over Heels" cost $14 million.

Both films were manhandled by reviewers, but "Valentine" distributor Warner Bros. "didn't consider this a review-based movie. There's certainly an audience that enjoys these kinds of movies," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution. "A good rule of thumb is that when in the first three days you gross your production budget, you're in good shape."

Likewise, Universal did not expect to lose money on "Head Over Heels," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution.

"It's nice when you get lucky and open to $20 million, but you have to put things in proper perspective," Rocco said. "There's a lot of life after the theatrical release, and this is another little film in the coffers for home video."

In an unusual move, Cloud Ten Pictures released its evangelical Christian thriller "Left Behind" to theaters this weekend after it debuted on home video last fall.

The movie, which stars Kirk Cameron and Brad Johnson and is based on the best-selling End Time novels, grossed $2.55 million. Playing in 874 theaters, it averaged $2,918 a cinema, compared with $4,381 in 2,310 locations for "Valentine" and $2,115 in 2,364 moviehouses for "Head Over Heels."

In limited release, the Chinese-language romantic drama "In the Mood for Love" opened in six theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, taking in $114,000 for a healthy $19,000 average.

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