War saga conquers US BO

Arthur J Pais

Helping Columbia Pictures wipe off some humiliation from the collapse of the $105-million, Ali, the Ridley Scott-directed grim war film, Black Hawk Down, shot to the top in its first wide release.

The film, which opened in Christmas week in a handful of theatres and was showing on 16 screens on January 17, is now on over 3,000 screens.

Its $29-million plus gross this weekend, followed by a strong $17 million for the low budget comedy, Snow Dogs and $13 million for The Lord Of The Rings, was considered strong by any reckoning. The numbers would have been stronger but for the ice storms across the North East, especially in New York.

This is Scott's third consecutive hit, following Gladiator and Hannibal. While Gladiator, which one several key Oscars grossed about $425 million worldwide, Hannibal, which was slammed by many for being too gory and violent, ate up $380 million.

Box-office pundits expect Black Hawk Down, which cost $90 million, to gross at least $85 million in North America. With a handful of Oscar nominations, the film could make more. Auguring a profitable run for the film is a survey which showed that nearly 45 per cent of the audience was women in their late 20s and early 30s. Men under 30 dominated the other side of sex barrier. It is generally believed that the audience below 30 make a film a hit since they constitute the core repeat group.

On the other hand, Ali, which too received mixed reviews like Black Hawk Down, will be lucky to gross $70 million in North America. Unless the film does excellent business abroad and enjoys a strong DVD and video sale, it could lose many millions.

Black Hawk Down set a record for a Martin Luther King holiday film, beating last year's light-hearted champ Save The Last Dance, which opened with $23.4 million and ended with about $90 million.

The success of Black Hawk Down, which is grim depiction of an abortive United States military mission in Somalia and runs over two hours, came as a surprise to many, even though the film has been doing very well in a limited release. Columbia executives knew they were taking a big challenge by giving the film a huge break.

Often films doing excellent business in limited release lose steam when they go into a wide release. Also, patriotic sentiments have not really helped at the box-office. The Last Castle, an inglorious failure, could not even capture $20 million. And Behind Enemy Lines turned into a modest success, grossing about $60 million.

While Black Hawk Down portrays America's shame in Somalia, it is nevertheless a tribute to American idealism. It is far from the anti-war films like Oliver Stone's Platoon, which too was a box-office smash and won several Oscars.

Named after the Black Hawk helicopters, the Ridley Scott film recounts the true story of a traumatic day for the US military when 18 soldiers were killed during a gunfight in Mogadishu in 1993. The incident prompted America to end its mission in Somalia.

Unlike Ali, which top-lined the $20-million per film Will Smith, Black Hawk Down has no pricey stars. The ensemble cast includes Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore.

Columbia Pictures executives did not hide their excitement over its success, candidly airing their earlier fears. They also believe the film could have a big run abroad. They point out that Black Hawk Down was the top earner in Canada.

"This is a film that is not necessarily for everybody," said Tom Sherak, partner at Revolution Studios, which produced the film for Columbia. "But people want to see something that is meaningful and by a good director."