Weekend estimates too close to call

Jun 24, 2002 by Ian Evans

So who gets the bragging rights for the box office over the weekend? The winner is…not clear. According to weekend estimates, Minority Report pulled in about $36.9 million compared to Lilo & Stitch’s estimated $35.8 million. So Tom Cruise is the winner, right?

Maybe. Other estimates put the Disney animated flick $100,000 short of the Spielberg sci-fi, while some have it pulling about $1 million ahead.

We’re dealing with estimates here. The numbers you hear trumpeted on Sundays are calculated by the studios themselves. They take a look at how Friday did. Calculate how much that type of film jumps from Friday to Saturday, and Saturday to Sunday, add pixie dust, and issue a press release. Sometimes the numbers you hear on the Monday morning news are pretty close. Sometimes, in the case of Attack of the Clones, they’re too high.

So we wait until later today.