Adults Discover ‘What Lies Beneath’

“What Lies Beneath” debuted with $29.7 million, drawing on female and adult audiences, which have largely been ignored this summer.

“Pokemon the Movie 2000” opened in third place with $19.6 million. “The craze isn’t over yet,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Two youth-oriented films stumbled out of the gate. “Loser” grossed $6 million for eighth place, while “The In Crowd” failed to crack the top 10 with only $1.5 million. Both films competed against “X-Men” and “Scary Movie” for the teen/young adult demographic.

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “What Lies Beneath” $29.7 2,813 1 (DreamWorks) $29.7 $10,559 2. “X-Men” $23.5 3,112 2 (Fox) $99.3 $7,541 3. “Pokemon the Movie 2000” $19.6 2,752 1 (Warner Bros.) $19.6 $7,113 4. “Scary Movie” $15.1 3,301 3 (Dimension) $116.4 $4,582 5. “The Perfect Storm” $9.7 3,203 4 (Warner Bros.) $145.4 $3,022 6. “Disney’s The Kid” $6.7 2,343 3 (Disney) $42.3 $2,855 7. “The Patriot” $6.2 2,751 4 (Sony/Columbia) $93.4 $2,268 8. “Loser” $6.0 2,016 1 (Sony/Columbia) $6.0 $2,980 9. “Chicken Run” $4.6 2,577 5 (DreamWorks) $86.0 $1,786 10. “Me, Myself & Irene” $3.0 2,450 5 (Fox) $83.0 $1,234 “The In Crowd”* $1.5 1,357 1 (Warner Bros.) $2.7 $1,109

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*Opened Wednesday

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.