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 | | Monday, 2 August, 1999, 10:47 GMT 11:47 UK Julia beats the Witch  Julia Roberts: Runaway Bride is her most successful opening Julia Roberts' new film Runaway Bride has shot to number one in the US box office charts - just pipping low-budget horror movie The Blair Witch Project to the top. Runaway Bride sees Roberts team up once again with Richard Gere - her co-star in 1990's Pretty Woman. She plays a woman who has left a string of fiances stranded at the altar - while Gere plays the reporter assigned to write a story about her. The film took in $34.5m between Friday and Sunday across the US and Canada, according to early box office estimates. It is the 31-year-old actress' most successful opening ever, following the popularity of Notting Hill, which has taken $110m at US box offices. But horror movie The Blair Witch Project is close behind. It initially cost only $60,000 to make - but took $28.5m on its first weekend on release across the US and Canada. It has already been on limited release in a number of US cinemas.
Already, fans are flocking to the woods where the film was shot, at Burkittesville, Maryland. It took an average of $25,886 at each of its 1,101 screens - compared to Runaway Bride's $10,925. Executives at distributors Artisan Entertainment, which bought the project from producers Haxan Films for $1m, expect it to take over $100m - far beyond their wildest expectations. Company president Amir Malin said: "I don't think a discussion of a $100m box office ever rolled out of anybody's mouth. "It's a testament to the film and the marketing that you don't need to make films for $100m to generate a huge gross." The Blair Witch Project - which is released in the UK on 29 October - could take the number one position next week when it expands to 2,000 screens. | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Entertainment stories now:  Links to more Entertainment stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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