The Doctor and The Dancer:
Winter Movie Report
Based on searches from the past few weeks, we predict that the second big movie of 2001 will be Hannibal.
Lycos users seem to be hungry for information about this Silence of the Lambs sequel, as last week Hannibal got five times as many searches as it did three weeks ago. Searches have also doubled for stars Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore (who replaces the original Dr. Sterling, Jodie Foster).
Here's our list, based on searches, of the most eagerly anticipated films opening in the next few weeks:
1) Hannibal
2) Snatch
3) Valentine
4) The Gift
5) The Pledge
6) Sugar and Spice
7) Shadow of the Vampire
8) The Wedding Planner
Quite a surprise to see the Jennifer Lopez-starring Wedding Planner so low on this list, but clearly Lycos users are much more excited about her new album than they are about her new movie. We wouldn't be shocked to see it do less business than expected, although it should draw romantic Valentine's Day crowds.
You can see trailers for some of these movies, including Hannibal, at Lycos TV. Click on "More Featured Trailers" and scroll down to find Hannibal, Shadow of the Vampire, Sugar and Spice, and more.
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If Hannibal is the second big movie of the year, the first big movie is clearly Save the Last Dance. We weren't able to write an article on it, since we were busy with the Web's Most Wanted Awards, but searches for the movie have grown consistently each week since trailers began running in mid-December.
Save the Last Dance has helped make a huge online star of actress Julia Stiles. In the five weeks prior to the movie opening, Stiles searches went up about 50 percent each week. Then, the week after the movie, she tripled. Overall, searches for Julia Stiles are up 700 percent from two months ago.
That makes Julia Stiles more popular among Lycos users right now than competing beauties like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Cameron Diaz, and Jennifer Aniston.
We've also seen a good number of searches for Stiles' male co-star Sean Patrick Thomas. Since the movie opened he has gone from virtually no searches to being the fifth most-popular actor online, ahead of Mel Gibson and Keanu Reeves.
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Finally, no discussion of winter movies would complete without this little search oddity.
Five weeks ago we began noticing searches for the name William Forrester. But a search for that name gives you a lawyer and a few family tree links. What could be driving these searches?
Then we realized - William Forrester is the name of the author portrayed by Sean Connery in the film Finding Forrester. Nevertheless, William Forrester had more searches last week than actor George Clooney or the film Miss Congeniality. Not bad for an author who doesn't actually exist.
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