Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe HOLLYWOOD, June 30 (UPI) -- The opening of Adam Sandler's "Mr. Deeds" easily won the nation's box office with an estimated $37.6 million at 3,001 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said. The Sony release, a loose remake of Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" with Sandler's modern-day character inheriting billions of dollars, performed in line with expectations and represented a rebound from the disappointing returns for his last film, "Little Nicky." Sandler's past hits have included "The Waterboy" and "Big Daddy," which both topped $160 million in domestic grosses. Advertisement "Mr. Deeds," which also stars Winona Ryder, showed the mass appeal of Sandler in a broad comedy and nearly equaled the $41.5 million opening for "Big Daddy" three years ago. With many moviegoers on vacation during the upcoming week, "Mr. Deeds" should manage to add at least $50 million by the end of next weekend. Advertisement Disney's second weekend of family comedy "Lilo & Stitch" finished well back in second with a still-respectable $22.2 million at 3,222 sites, edging 20th Century Fox's second weekend of "Minority Report" with $21.6 million at 3,001 locations. Both turned in solid results with "Lilo" declining 37 percent from its opening weekend and "Report" down by 39 percent. Disney had disputed the first-place estimate for "Minority Report" last weekend, but the science-fiction thriller narrowly won according to the final numbers. Warner Bros.' third weekend of "Scooby-Doo" remained a powerful draw for children as it finished fourth with $12.2 million at 3,447 theaters. The live-action version of the TV cartoon series has grossed $123.8 million after 17 days and is tied with "City Slickers" for 153rd place on the all-time domestic list. Universal's third weekend of "The Bourne Identity" also showed staying power with $10.8 million at 2,663 sites as it declined only 28 percent from the second weekend and boosted its 17-day total to $72.5 million. With five films topping the $10 million mark, overall business maintained its healthy pace as the top 10 totaled over $126 million, or $13 million ahead of the same weekend last year when "A.I. -- Artificial Intelligence" led with $29 million. The year-to-date total has gone past $4.4 billion and is up 19 percent over the same period of 2001. Advertisement The weekend's other opener, Paramount's "Hey Arnold! The Movie" turned in an unimpressive performance in sixth with $6 million at 2,527 theaters, showing that the market for titles aimed at children may have already been saturated with "Lilo & Stitch" and "Scooby-Doo." The studio noted that "Arnold," based on the Nickelodeon TV cartoon series, cost only $5 million to produce. Competition for children and teen moviegoers will intensify on Wednesday as three films open -- Sony's "Men In Black II," Fox's basketball fantasy "Like Mike" and Warner's animated "The Powerpuff Girls." "Men In Black II" is expected to lead the pack, given that the original topped $251 million domestically in 1997. Paramount's fifth weekend of "The Sum of All Fears" finished seventh with a still-solid $4.8 million at 2,486 theaters to lift its 31-day total to $105.3 million. Warner's fourth weekend of "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" came in eighth again with a drop of 33 percent to $4 million at 2,167 theaters to give it $55.3 million after 24 days. That was enough to beat MGM's third weekend of "Windtalkers," which continued its disappointing run with $3.6 million at 2,529 sites. Fox's seventh weekend of "Star Wars: Episode 2 -- Attack of the Clones" finished 10th with $3.56 million at 1,801 theaters to move its 46-day total to $286.1 million past "Home Alone" for 15th place on the all-time list. Sony's ninth weekend of "Spider-Man" followed in 11th place with $3 million at 1,810 locations to boost its 59-day total, fifth on the all-time list, to $395.7 million. Advertisement On the art house circuit, Lions Gate's opening of comedy "Lovely and Amazing" grossed an impressive $96,000 at eight theaters while United Artists' Christina Ricci comedy "Pumpkin" debuted with $30,000 at eight screens. Fox's Silicon Valley comedy "The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest" generated little interest with $2,354 at two locations. IFC's "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" continued to perform well, grossing $2 million at 493 sites for a total of $19.3 million.
