IK
6B
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, March 6, 1997
‘Booty Call’ debuts at No. 4;
Rosewood holds on to No. 10
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES - Mob movie
“Doimie Brasco” knocked off
“Star Wars” but couldn’t touch
“The Empire Strikes Back,”
which again had the top box
office earnings for the week
end with $12.6 million in tick
et sales.
“Donnie Brasco,” starring A1
Pacino and Johnny Depp,
grossed $11.2 million in its
opening to knock “Star Wars”
out of second place, according
to estimates released Sunday.
The first episode of the
George Lucas space trilogy
earned $ 7 million, according
to Exhibitor Relations Co., Inc.
“Donnie Brasco” had the best
per-screen average of the top
10 films at $7,452.
Audiences for “Empire” and
“Star Wars” dropped 43 per
cent and 37 percent respec
tively over the previous week
end. Those dips are within the
range expected for new films,
let alone re-releases.
The perils of Luke
Skywalker and friends have
aged well - and lucratively.
“Star Wars,” first released in
1977, has grossed $447.9 mil
lion domestically when its
refurbished re-release is
counted.
“Empire” has taken in $262.4
million theatrically since it
debuted in 1980.
The weekend’s only other
major film debut was “Booty
Call,” a raunchy dating come
dy that finished fourth with
$6.4 million.
Clint Eastwood’s White
Tommy Davidson & Jamie Foxx star in BOOTY CALL
House murder thriller,
“Absolute Power,” was fifth
with $5.7 million, followed by
“Dante’s Peak.” The volcano
disaster film had $5.1 million.
Next in line were “Vegas
Vacation” with $4.5 million,
“Fools Rush In” at $3.7 million
and “Marvin’s Room,” which
grossed $3.5 million.
“Rosewood,” in 10th place,
grossed $2.8 million, a drop of
just 11 percent from the previ
ous weekend. The movie about
the destruction of a black
Florida town in the 1920s has
had generally good reviews.
Though out of the top 10,
“Jerry Maguire” continued to
amass cash with $2.6 million
for a 12-week take of $135.1
million. Two Oscar-nominated
independents, “The English
Patient” and “Shine,” grossed
$2.2 million and $2.1 million,
respectively.
Several films opened in lim
ited release. “Smilla’s Sense of
Snow,” a thriller with Julia
Ormond, had $100,000 in tick
et sales and the gambling
drama “Hard Eight” had
$61,000.
Final weekend box office fig
ures were to be released
Monday.
The top 10 films from Friday
through Sunday:
L “The Empire Strikes
Back,” $12.6 million.
2. “Donnie Brasco,” $11.2
million.
3. “Star Wars,” $7 million.
4. “Booty Call,” $6.4 million.
5. “Absolute Power,” $5.7 mil
lion.
6. “Dante’s Peak,” $5.1 mil
lion.
7. “Vegas Vacation,” $4.5 mil
lion.
8. “Fools Rush In,” $3.7 mil
lion.
9. “Marvin’s Room,” $3.5 mil
lion.
10. “Rosewood,” $2.8 million.
Movie shows north’s part in slave trade
By Janet Kerlin
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode
Island might seem an odd
place for Steven Spielberg to
make a film about a 19th-cen
tury slave rebellion, but the
nation’s smallest state had a
big role in the U.S. slave trade.
Rhode Island merchants con
trolled between 60 and 90 per
cent of the American trade in
African slaves throughout
most of the 18th century,
according to Jay Coughtry,
who explored the state’s slave
trade in his book “The
Notorious Triangle.”
Ship owners sent vessels
mostly from Newport and
Bristol, but also Warren and
Providence, to the west coast
of Africa and brought slaves to
the United States, West Indies
and Cuba.
More than 100,000 Afncans
were taken aboard 934 Rhode
Island vessels between 1725 to
1807, said
Coughtry,
j w h 0
researched
shipping
documents for
his book and
teaches at the
I University of
Nevada, Las
Vegas.
More ships
made the
voyage, but docu
ments likely have been
destroyed by embarrassed
family members of ship cap
tains and others, Coughtry
said Wednesday.
“The owners, the family
members, had actually razored
out the signatures of the fami
ly member. That’s a telling
sign. Northerners, New
Englanders, don’t want that
stigma of any association of
slavery because (New
Englanders) turn out to be the
most vocal abolitionists,”
Coughtry said.
Newport was the largest
slave trading city in the 13
colonies, with the highest
numbers of ships engaged in
the business, said Bob
Weisbord, history professor at
the University of Rhode
Island.
Still, Rhode Island’s slave
trading history isn’t well
known and isn’t required in its
public schools.
See SLAVES Page 7B
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