'Gone in 60 Seconds' Tops Box Office

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” The car-heist caper ``Gone in 60 Seconds'' raced to the top of the weekend box office, debuting with $25.5 million and pushing ``Mission: Impossible 2'' back into the

Sunday, June 11th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” The car-heist caper ``Gone in 60 Seconds'' raced to the top of the weekend box office, debuting with $25.5 million and pushing ``Mission: Impossible 2'' back into the pack, according to studio estimates Sunday.

``Gone in 60 Seconds'' overcame generally poor reviews that said the action flick squandered the talents of Oscar-winning stars Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie and Robert Duvall. It was produced by action master Jerry Bruckheimer.

``Bad reviews don't matter,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the box office. ``People are looking for escape in the summer. The movie's trailers promised some fun, so audiences went out to theaters to escape.''

``Gone in 60 Seconds'' likely will be gone from the top spot next weekend, when Samuel L. Jackson's update of the 1970s detective franchise ``Shaft'' debuts.

``Mission'' fell to No. 2 after two weekends in first place, grossing $17.1 million to push its total to $157.9 million since opening just before Memorial Day. It passed ``Gladiator,'' which has taken in $150.2 million, as the top-grossing flick so far this year.

``Big Momma's House'' was third in its second weekend, taking in $16.8 million. The Martin Lawrence comedy had grossed $52 million in 10 days.

In its fourth weekend, ``Dinosaur'' took in $8.8 million and increased its total gross to $110.5 million, making it the fourth movie released this year to top $100 million.

Two new movies did well in limited release.

``Sunshine,'' starring Ralph Fiennes in a saga that follows three generations of a Hungarian-Jewish family, debuted with $92,583 in seven theaters. The movie had a strong $13,226 per-cinema average, compared to $8,483 in 3,006 theaters for ``Gone in 60 Seconds.'' ``Sunshine'' expands to more theaters in late June.

Kenneth Branagh's latest Shakespeare adaptation, a tuneful version of ``Love's Labour's Lost'' updated as a 1930s Hollywood musical, opened in two theaters with $27,000 for a $13,500 average.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures are to be released Monday.

1. ``Gone in 60 Seconds,'' $25.5 million.

2. ``Mission: Impossible 2,'' $17.1 million.

3. ``Big Momma's House,'' $16.8 million.

4. ``Dinosaur,'' $8.8 million.

5. ``Gladiator,'' $7.1 million.

6. ``Shanghai Noon,'' $5.8 million.

7. ``Road Trip,'' $4.7 million.

8. ``Frequency,'' $1.5 million.

9. ``Small Time Crooks,'' $1.3 million.

10. ``U-571,'' $1.1 million.