DAILY NEWS: "Blair" Adds $24M; "Drylongso" Wins at Urbanworld

by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

>> "Blair Witch" Adds 1,000 Screens and Earns Another $24 Million

"The Blair Witch Project" remained at the number two spot in the country
this weekend, earning an estimated $24.5 million and nipping at the heels
of the latest Bruce Willis' vehicle, "The Sixth Sense." Disney's "Sense,"
which premiered this weekend, earned about $1 million more than "The Blair
Witch Project," which expanded to 2,100 screens (from 1,100) in its fourth
weekend. "Blair Witch" has now earned more than $80 million, and a Reuters
estimate yesterday projected that the movie would end up with $125 million
before all is said and done.

"Blair Witch" topped a handful of debuting entries this weekend, among them
MGM's "Thomas Crown Affair" starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, "Dick"
with Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams, and "Mystery Men" with Ben
Stiller and Janeane Garofalo.

>> "Drylongso" Wins Top Urbanworld Award

The third annual Urbanworld Film Festival came to a close yesterday
(Sunday) with an awards ceremony for the top movies at the country's
largest festival for films by minority filmmakers. Cauleen Smith won the
Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature for "Drylongso," while the audience award
for best feature went to Timothy Wayne Folsome's "An Invited Guest." The
Best Documentary prize went to Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgan for "On
the Ropes."

The festival's Best Director Award went to Garret Williams for "Spark," the
Best Short award was given to Rod Gailes for "Twin Cousins," and the Best
Screenplay prize went to Tanya Hamilton for "Stringbean and Marcus." A
special award for acting was presented to Nicole Ari Parker for her work in
festival films, "Mute Love," "Loving Jezebel," and "Spark."

The Urbanworld Festival screened 62 films during its five-day run in New
York City.

[For more information, visit the festival website at:
http://www.urbanworld.com.]