Maybe New Line Cinema got it wrong--maybe "Rush Hour" should have been called "Money Talks." The junior film division of Time Warner played in the big leagues over the weekend, hitting a Sammy Sosa-like line drive over the back wall with the Chris Tucker-Jackie Chan action comedy, which exceeded weekend estimates to gross a staggering $33 million.
That's better than any movie has debuted in August, September or October, handily beating "The First Wives' Club's" $18-million previous September record opening.
It continues New Line's pattern of releasing sleepers, says company production head Michael De Luca, films with fresh talent like "Money Talks" (also starring Tucker) and "The Wedding Singer" (Adam Sandler), which go on to exceed industry expectations. "Money Talks" grossed about $40 million in the fall and "The Wedding Singer" took in about $80 million in the spring.
Exhibitor Relations head Paul Dergarabedian says "Rush Hour's" debut compares favorably to "Lethal Weapon 4's" $34-million debut and "Armageddon's" $36-million first weekend--both in the heat of the summer. "We were expecting it to do well based on the awareness levels," he says. "But you don't usually see these kinds of grosses in the post-Labor Day period. These are summer numbers."
The difference is that "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Armageddon" both had proven box office stars like Mel Gibson and Bruce Willis as well as production costs well over $100 million. "Rush Hour" cost $34 million. "Rush Hour" beat its own projections when Sunday business actually matched the Friday opening, helped in part by schools being out in a couple of major markets like Los Angeles and New York for Rosh Hashana.
New Line knew "Rush Hour" was a potential hit as awareness for the film climbed to 90% prior to its Friday opening with an extremely high 30% first choice among regular moviegoers. But even the most optimistic estimates had the movie grossing less than $25 million.
Selling the Laughs Sold the Movie
What made the difference is the selling of the film, which emphasized its comedic aspects, only further underscoring audience's thirst for comedy (as "There's Something About Mary" continues to prove).
"We did two things that were very conscious," says "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner. "Since 'Money Talks' (also starring Tucker, which Ratner also directed) was an R-rated movie, we went for a PG-13. And that meant no cursing, which tends to alienate middle America. The other thing was we focused it on the characters and a real dilemma--saving a young girl's life. By basing it in reality, we knew we could attract women and the date-night audience."
