Naomi Watts upstages Anthony Hopkins The Ring stakes its claim while Greek Wedding still holds forth

Arthur J Pais

Perhaps taking the title seriously, many moviegoers steered away from Abandon, leaving the movie to claim sixth spot on the box-office chart.

With a $5.3 million gross, the film was a dead on directorial debut for Stephen Gaghan. With wide pans from critics and a cold shoulder from audiences, the $25 million movie may not gross even $20 million in North America. Oscar-winning scriptwriter (Traffic) Gaghan, also scripted the new movie about the mysterious and troubling incidents in the life of a young college student (Katie Holmes) preparing to face the big and real world.

Though a handful of reviewers like Bruce Fretts of Entertainment Weekly called the film 'competently made', giving it a B-grade, most other critics roasted it. 'A picture so moody that physicians might want to prescribe Prozac for it,' wrote Elvis Mitchell in The New York Times.

Meanwhile, DreamWorks's horror movie The Ring opened with a good, but unspectacular, $15 million weekend. A remake of the sensationally successful Japanese film Ringu, the new film revolves around a journalist (Naomi Watts) pushed into watching a videotape. Viewers are killed a week after watching it, and the journalist has to fight not only to save herself but also her son who has unwittingly watched the tape. The film got mostly mixed reviews but the audiences seem to love it.

'The supernatural elements don't always add up logically,' said Hollywood Reporter, 'but director Gore Verbinski is firmly in control of the film's strong visuals.' Los Angeles Times praised Australian actress Naomi Watts's performance. Watts, who had won praise for her work in the little seen but acclaimed Mullholland Drive by David Lynch, can expect a big paycheck raise now. The three-day gross of The Ring was indeed healthy considering the film was in just about 1981 theatres, unlike most films that open in at least 2,500 theatres.

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DreamWorks has two moderate hits right now, the second being Jackie Chan's The Tuxedo heading for a $55 to $60 million run in North America. At $45 million, The Ring, expected to gross $50 million in North America, opened to far bigger numbers than the ones projected by experts. 'The audience had goosebumps,' Jim Tharp, DreamWorks distribution president told reporters. 'But they had fun with it.'

The Ring dealt a solid blow to Red Dragon. The Hannibal Lecter drama is looking seriously anaemic, having lost another 50 per cent of box-office clout. Unless it stabilises and comes down by about 30 per cent each week, it may not be able to reach $100 million. A hit it is but far from the hit Universal Pictures had expected. The movie has started rolling out in Europe with a decent opening in England. Universal is probably hoping that it will do far better abroad than in America.

Two films remained steady: the ever strong My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which became the highest grossing independently produced film last week, had the smallest decline among the top ten films. Easing by about ten per cent, it danced to a $7.1 million and its gross reached to $169 million.

It was at fourth spot on the list, jumping one position from last week. Coming down by about 35 per cent, Sweet Home Alabama, which took the second position, grossed $9.6 million and its total reached $98.5 million.

The $8 million romantic drama Brown Sugar is expected to break even by the coming Friday. It has already grossed $18.5 million, fuelled by the $5.3 million weekend gross. It is expected to gross $30 million before it hits even more profitable video and DVD sales.

Despite upbeat reviews and praise for the performances of its four female artistes, especially for Michelle Pfeiffer and Alison Lohman, White Oleander is struggling at the box-office. The Warner Bros movie started with a disappointing $5.6 million ten days ago, and lost about 40 per cent of the box-office this weekend, taking its total to $10.8 million. The film cost a modest $16 million and may eventually make a small profit.

Unlike many other women-oriented hit films like Divine Secrets Of Ya-Ya Sisterhood, also distributed by Warner Bros, White Oleander, is a big disappointment. It slipped out of the top ten films to the 11th position. The American gross for Divine Secrets is about $70 million.

Among this week's newcomers, Formula 51, an action-packed comedy starring Samuel L Jackson was a total disaster. The film, which opened in England several months ago and bombed instantly, grossed just about $3 million in North America and took the 12th position.