'Identity' edges 'Anger' at box office

HOLLYWOOD, April 27 (UPI) -- The opening of mystery thriller "Identity" edged the third weekend of "Anger Management" to top a moderate weekend box office with an estimated $17 million at 2,733 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

The Sony release, starring John Cusack and Ray Liotta, took advantage of a marketplace that had not seen any recent major entries in the suspense genre and posted by far the highest per-location average at $6,220. "Identity," focused on a group of strangers at a remote motel on a stormy night, is likely to see respectable business for several more weeks.

"'Identity' turned in a decent performance for a film that clearly did not carry high expectations," said movie industry analyst Arthur Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management.

"Identity" also posted solid results in contrast with three other new films -- Lions Gate's drama "Confidence," with Dustin Hoffman, was fifth with $4.8 million at 1,861 theaters; MGM's drama-comedy "It Runs in the Family," with Kirk and Michael Douglas, finished ninth with $3 million at 1,207 sites, and New Line's "The Real Cancun," starring 16 spring-breakers in a reality-TV format, flopped in 10th with $2.3 million at 2,261 locations for an anemic $1,017 average per screen.

"'Confidence' and 'It Runs in the Family' aren't going to get any young moviegoers out and 'Cancun' probably didn't seem that different from what's available for free on TV," Rockwell said.

Sony continued to score with "Anger Management" in second with $16 million at 3,656 theaters as the comedy declined by 36 percent from its second weekend. Its 17-day gross has hit $104.5 million, making it the 275th film to top the $100 million mark and the fourth this year after "Bringing Down the House," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and "Daredevil."

The only other solid performer in the top 10 was Disney's second weekend of "Holes" with $13 million at 2,349 theaters as the family drama lost only 20 percent from its opening Friday-Sunday. It has now taken in nearly $37 million after 10 days.

Warner Bros' second weekend of "Malibu's Most Wanted" finished a distant fourth with $7.7 million at 2,503 screens, falling 39 percent from its opening weekend. It easily outpaced "Confidence" and MGM's second weekend of "Bulletproof Monk" with $4.7 million at 2,955 theaters as the action-drama declined 46 percent.

Disney's fourth weekend of "What a Girl Wants" followed in seventh with $3.4 million at 2,450 theaters, edging 20th Century Fox's fourth weekend of "Phone Booth" with $3.1 million at 2,113 sites. "Girl" has taken in $33 million while "Phone Booth" has topped $40 million.

As a result, overall business was relatively mild with the top 10 grossing a combined $75 million. That was about $7 million ahead of the same weekend last year when "The Scorpion King" led with $18 million.

Business to date in 2003 has reached $2.2 billion, about 7 percent behind the record-setting pace of 2002. But expectations are high next weekend when Fox opens "X2: X-Men United," given the $54.5 million opening for the original "X-Men" in 2000 and its final domestic gross of $157.2 million.

"X-2" will be unlikely to match the opening of "Spider-Man" with a record $114.8 million, which opened on the same weekend in 2002 but Rockwell said its performance should still be impressive. "The first weekend in May is always a strong one for the business," Rockwell said. "Everyone feels like it's the weekend that summer is really starting."

Disney also opens family comedy "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" next weekend.

On the art-house circuit, MGM's "City of Ghosts," starring Matt Dillon, took in $38,000 at six sites, Al Pacino's Miramax drama "People I Know" grossed $34,000 at five screens and Paramount Classics drama "House of Fools" opened with $7,229 at three locations.

Fox Searchlight's "Bend it Like Beckham" grossed $1.6 million at 421 theaters to push its total to $9.1 million and Paramount Classics' "Better Luck Tomorrow" took in $1.1 million at 380 sites as its total hit $2.2 million. Warner's "A Mighty Wind" continued to perform well with $1.5 million at 155 screens to lift its total to $4.8 million.