'Whole Nine Yards' wins tight box office fight

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The hitman spoof ''The Whole Nine Yards'' inched its way to a top box-office debut, taking in $15.9 million over the four-day Presidents Day weekend.

The movie, starring Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry, narrowly beat another new film, ''Hanging Up,'' starring Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton and Lisa Kudrow. Directed by Keaton, ''Hanging Up'' was No. 2 with $15.7 million.

Movies benefitting from best-picture Oscar nominations last week included ''American Beauty,'' which broke back into the top 10 with $6.6 million in its first weekend of re-release. Ticket sales rose 85 percent for ''The Cider House Rules'' and 48 percent for ''The Sixth Sense,'' two other best-picture nominees.

The top 20 movies at North American theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distributing studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. and ACNielsen EDI.

1. ''The Whole Nine Yards,'' Warner Bros., $15.9 million, 2,910 locations, $5,469 average, $15.9 million, one week.

2. ''Hanging Up,'' Sony, $15.7 million, 2,618 locations, $6,001 average, $15.7 million, one week.

3. ''Snow Day,'' Paramount, $15.3 million, 2,704 locations, $5,644 average, $31.9 million, two weeks.

4. ''Pitch Black,'' USA Films, $13.5 million, 1,832 locations, $7,351 average, $13.5 million, one week.

5. ''The Tigger Movie,'' Disney, $10.6 million, 2,755 locations, $3,849 average, $22.4 million, two weeks.

6. ''Scream 3,'' Miramax, $9.9 million, 3,368 locations, $2,935 average, $71.4 million, three weeks.

7. ''The Beach,'' Fox, $8.3 million, 2,587 locations, $3,190 average, $28.7 million, two weeks.

8. ''Boiler Room,'' New Line, $6.7 million, 1,335 locations, $5,036 average, $6.7 million, one week.

9. ''American Beauty,'' DreamWorks, $6.6 million, 1,287 locations, $5,132 average, $81.4 million, 23 weeks.

10. ''The Cider House Rules,'' Miramax, $3.4 million, 857 locations, $3,978 average, $27 million, 11 weeks.

11. ''The Green Mile,'' Warner Bros., $3.2 million, 2,102 locations, $1,540 average, $128.7 million, 11 weeks.

12. ''The Hurricane,'' Universal, $2.8 million, 1,711 locations, $1,610 average, $46.4 million, eight weeks.

13. ''Fantasia/2000,'' Disney, $2.3 million, 54 locations, $43,273 average, $24.4 million, eight weeks.

14. ''Stuart Little,'' Sony, $2.2 million, 1,714 locations, $1,285 average, $134.8 million, 10 weeks.

15. ''Next Friday,'' New Line, $2.1 million, 1,209 locations, $1,715 average, $52.6 million, six weeks.

16. ''The Sixth Sense,'' Disney, $1.9 million, 894 locations, $2,163 average, $282 million, 29 weeks.

17. ''Galaxy Quest,'' DreamWorks, $1.6 million, 1,186 locations, $1,365 average, $68 million, nine weeks.

18. ''The Talented Mr. Ripley,'' Paramount, $951,425, 954 locations, $997 average, $79.4 million, nine weeks.

19. ''Toy Story 2,'' Disney, $942,115, 764 locations, $1,233 average, $239.9 million, 14 weeks.

20. ''Angela's Ashes,'' Paramount, $741,753, 614 locations, $1,208 average, $11.3 million, nine weeks.