Universal's Meet the Parents, starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, had little difficulty holding off a challenge from Artisan's Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 over the weekend. In its fourth week, the Robert De Niro-Ben Stiller comedy earned $15 million (bringing its gross past the $100 million mark), while Blair Witch 2 wound up debuting with $13.2 million. (Appearing on CNN's Showbiz Today Monday, movie analyst Martin Grove credited the continued success of Parents to cagey casting by the producers. "After There Is Something About Mary, there is something about Ben Stiller," Grove said, "And certainly, what that something is is that he brings in the young audience. ... Robert De Niro has the adult audience. ... That means that everybody is going to see Meet the Parents.") Artisan execs claimed that the result was not a disappointment, despite earlier predictions by many analysts that the Blair Witch sequel would easily trounce the competition. Artisan spokesman Paul Pflug told Bloomberg News: "With any film we always hope for the highest opening weekend possible, and even in this case we are pleased with the numbers, because this shows the film will be profitable for us." Disney's Remember the Titans remained in third place with $8 million. Ticket sales for the top 12 films totaled $80 million -- up 30 percent over the comparable weekend a year ago.
The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Meet The Parents, Universal, $15,048,475, ($100,014,250); 2. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Artisan, $13,223,887, (New); 3. Remember the Titans, Disney, $8,027,728, ($87,767,175); 4. Bedazzled, 20th Century Fox, $7,829,426, ($24,146,411); 5. Pay It Forward, Warner Bros., $6,803,726, ($19,035,222); 6. The Little Vampire, New Line, $5,719,627, (New); 7. Lucky Numbers, Paramount, $4,536,625, (New); 8. The Contender, DreamWorks, $2,451,799, ($13,986,191); 9. The Legend of Drunken Master, Dimension, $2,429,386, ($7,379,757); 10. Best In Show, Warner Bros., $1,827,376, ($9,239,552).

Source: Studio Briefing