‘G.I. Jane,’ ‘Money Talks’ in Disputed Box-Office Tie

The makers of “G.I. Jane” started a Hollywood firefight Sunday, accusing a rival studio of inflating box-office receipts to place “Money Talks” in a tie with Demi Moore’s latest film for the No. 1 weekend spot.

But New Line Cinema stood its ground on “Money Talks” and fired back that the ticket sale figures are only estimates, in any case.

The dispute renewed questions about the veracity of the initial weekend figures, which studios use for bragging rights and as a powerful marketing tool.

“The [weekend] numbers, I think they’re starting to play around with a little too much,” said Art Rockwell, an entertainment industry analyst with Yaeger Capital Markets.

“G.I. Jane,” starring Moore as the first woman trying to make the elite Navy SEAL team, and “Money Talks,” a comedy with Chris Tucker as a fast-talking con man, each had $11.1 million in grosses, according to estimates from Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

That company receives its figures from the studios, ranks them and releases them. No independent source checks the estimates for accuracy. The “weekend” numbers include figures for Sunday that are purely guesses.

In the box-office battle, no one had more at stake than Moore, who has starred in three consecutive clunkers: “The Juror,” “Striptease” and “The Scarlet Letter.”

Phil Barlow, president of distribution for Buena Vista Pictures, which released “G.I. Jane” under the Hollywood Pictures banner, charged that New Line overestimated what “Money Talks” took in Friday and Saturday and projected an unrealistic figure for Sunday.

“I stand by my numbers,” said Al Shapiro, president of distribution for New Line.

Nevertheless, at least one outside observer questioned the “Money Talks” figure.

Andrew Hindes, who covers box-office revenues for the entertainment trade publication Variety, said that by his own calculation and by those of studios with no vested interest in the spat, “G.I. Jane” won.

“Everyone I spoke to believes ‘G.I. Jane’ was the No. 1 film by a margin of $400,000 to $1 million,” he said.

“Clearly these numbers do have an effect, and they’re used as a marketing tool,” Hindes said. “The fact that the mainstream press do report that does have an effect on future box office: What’s No. 1 this week means tonight it will be on ‘Entertainment Tonight’ and the news. That’s the picture that gets the most press.”

The dispute over No. 1 overshadowed another notable number, as Columbia Pictures’ “Men in Black” passed Universal Pictures’ “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” as the summer’s No. 1 film. “MiB’s” $3-million take over the weekend, good for 10th place, increased its cumulative gross to $230.6 million.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Columbia’s “Air Force One,” $8.2 million ($143.4 million in five weeks); Dimension Films’ “Mimic,” $7.6 million; Warner Bros.’ “Conspiracy Theory,” $7.3 million; Miramax Films’ “Cop Land,” $7.1 million; Paramount Pictures’ “Event Horizon,” $4.4 million; Universal’s “Leave It to Beaver,” $3.4 million; and Disney’s “George of the Jungle,” $3.1 million.