Cyber-Adventure ‘The Matrix’ Booted Back Up to Top Spot

The cyberspace adventure “The Matrix” was No. 1 at the box office during a weekend considered to be a clearinghouse just before the release of highly anticipated movies.

The futuristic Keanu Reeves thriller grossed an estimated $12.9 million over the weekend after crossing the $100-million mark last week. It replaced the prison comedy “Life,” which slipped to second place with $11.6 million after losing 43% of its audience, industry estimates showed Sunday.

Two comedies opening in wide release failed to grab a sizable audience. “Pushing Tin,” the John Cusack-Billy Bob Thornton comedy about a rivalry between two frantic air traffic controllers, opened with $3.6 million for fourth place. “Lost & Found,” featuring David Spade as a smarmy dognapper who falls in love with a beautiful neighbor, opened in sixth place with $3.1 million.

“This weekend is considered a dumping ground for films by the industry, their last chance to make something before summer releases start coming out,” said Robert Bucksbaum, a movie analyst with Reel Source Inc. “Once the summer opens, all the other films just fall like a ton of bricks.”

Bucksbaum said studios have started opening “summer-style” big-budget films in the spring--such as “Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace,” which is due in May, and “Entrapment,” which opens this week--to take advantage of a time when smaller movies are in the market.

It worked for “The Matrix,” he said. The film about a hacker who battles cyber-overlords in a world of virtual reality has taken in $117.3 million in four weeks.

Meanwhile, the Drew Barrymore high school comedy “Never Been Kissed” continued to do well, holding onto third place with $6.2 million.

Weekend ticket sales were 4.7% higher than the same weekend last year, when “Titanic” began to lose steam.

The high school student government satire “Election,” starring Reese Witherspoon as a compulsive goody-two-shoes and Matthew Broderick as a frumpy civics teacher, opened in only six theaters but pulled in an outstanding per-screen average of $20,000.

“It was very smart to open it in only six theaters,” said Bucksbaum. “Awareness was low on the movie before, but now [the studio] is counting on good word of mouth.”

Rounding out the top 10 were: “Analyze This,” fifth place, $3.2 million; “10 Things I Hate About You,” seventh place, $2.8 million; “The Out-of-Towners,” eighth place, $2.02 million; “Go,” ninth place, $2 million, and “Forces of Nature,” 10th place, $1.7 million.