'The Mummy' creeps to No. 1 at box office

LOS ANGELES -- "The Mummy" took advantage of a pre-"Star Wars" box office drought to wrap up this year's biggest opening weekend with $44.6 million.

The cat-burglar caper "Entrapment" slipped to second with $12.2 million and cyberspace adventure "The Matrix" was third with $6 million, estimates showed Sunday.

With lukewarm reviews, many expected "The Mummy" -- a special effects-filled story of an ancient Egyptian priest who returns from the dead -- to do mediocre business before dropping out of sight when the "Star Wars" prequel opens May 19.

"Actually, it probably did three times as much business as people were expecting," Robert Bucksbaum, a Reel Source Inc. movie analyst, said.

"Other films have been just hanging around the box office, but this had that kind of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' appeal," he said. "When you finally get a release like this, everybody goes wild."

With most studios giving a wide berth to the opening of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," Universal Pictures' daring move to open "The Mummy" just 12 days earlier may pay off if word-of-mouth is favorable.

"The Mummy" -- which also had the best nonsummer opening ever -- was an impressive showing for star Brendan Fraser and easily beat his previous high opening of $16.5 million for "George of the Jungle."

"The first five days of 'Star Wars' will be sold out, so 'The Mummy' may actually benefit by being the only alternative," Bucksbaum said.

Also opening in wide release this weekend was the high school student government satire "Election," starring Reese Witherspoon as a compulsive do-gooder and Matthew Broderick as a frumpy civics teacher.

The film opened in only a handful of theaters three weeks ago and rode a wave of positive reviews to fifth place this weekend with $3.3 million.

"Analyze This" crossed the $100 million mark this week, earning $1.8 million for seventh place. It has grossed $100.9 million in 10 weeks.

Weekend ticket sales were 12.2 percent higher than the same weekend last year, when "Deep Impact" debuted as "City of Angels" and "Titanic" began to slip.

Estimated grosses for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Inc.:

1. "The Mummy," $44.6 million.

2. "Entrapment," $12.2 million.

3. "The Matrix," $6 million.

4. "Life," $3.5 million.

5. "Election," $3.3 million.

6. "Never Been Kissed," $3 million.

7. "Analyze This," $1.8 million.

8. "10 Things I Hate About You," $1.2 million.

9. "Cookie's Fortune," $900,000.

10. "Shakespeare in Love," $765,000.

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