'Forces of Nature' wins at the box office

While Hollywood was honoring last year’s movies at the Oscars, the filmgoing public was in the midst of ignoring most of Hollywood’s new movies. Other than ”Forces of Nature,” which topped the chart with an estimated $13.9 million, it was the second week in a row of poor performances for film openings. Clint Eastwood’s ”True Crime” pulled in only $5.3 million for third place, the animated ”The King and I” was in sixth with $4.1 million, and the cannibal flick ”Ravenous” devoured only $950,000, failing to make the top 10. Rounding out the top 5 were ”Analyze This” — one of the only hits so far this year, with $11.9 million — in second, ”Baby Geniuses ($4.5 million) in fourth, and ”Cruel Intentions” ($4.2 million) in fifth.

Movie fans are in a fickle stage: Not only are they disdaining the new releases, they’re not checking out holdovers they’ve missed. Many of last week’s underperforming openers dropped even farther in their second week in theaters: ”The Rage: Carrie 2” plummeted 48 percent to $3.6 million, and ”The Corruptor” fell to $3 million. Michelle Pfeiffer’s ”The Deep End of the Ocean” is heading for deep, deep trouble, pulling in only $2.7 million. Are people already starting to save their money for ”The Phantom Menace”?