'Hitch' sets Valentine's Day record

Posted Wednesday, February 16, 2005 at 1:05 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Will Smith helped spread the love on Valentine's Day and set a record in the process. The romantic comedy Hitch generated over $7.5 million at the box office on Monday.

The movie, starring and produced by Smith, bettered the holiday's previous record of $5.1 million by Hannibal in 2001. Hitch, directed by Andy Tennant, also become the biggest weekend opening ever for a romantic comedy pulling in $43.1 over the three-day period.

It was quite a lovely weekend for Sony Pictures Entertainment. The studio behind Hitch also held the second and third spots at the box office with Boogeyman and Are We There Yet?. This is the first time in 15 years that one distributor has held the top three money-earners at the box office.