New Lines sci-fi thriller, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT (with vfx by Schminken Studio and Toybox), overtook Universals ALONG CAME POLLY at the box office with $17M for the weekend ended Jan. 25, 2004. POLLY came in second in its second outing with $16.3M and $53.2M to date. DreamWorks WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON! debuted at number three with $7.3M, while Sonys BIG FISH (with vfx by Sony Pictures Imageworks) slipped to fourth with $7.1M and a cume of $48.9M. New Lines THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, the big Golden Globe winner (with vfx overwhelmingly by Weta Digital), dipped to fifth with $6.7M, but has now collected $337.8M and should overtake THE TWO TOWERS this week. Foxs CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (with vfx by 11:11 Mediaworks and Digital Filmworks) came in sixth with $6.3M on its way to a cume of $122.5M. Miramaxs Oscar hopeful, COLD MOUNTAIN, placed seventh with $5M and a respectable cume of $72.5M. Warner Bros. TORQUE, the eighth place finisher, dropped nearly 55% in its second outing, earning $4.4M for a tally of $17.2M (with vfx by Team Works Digital, Colorado FX, ComputerCafe, Pixel Magic and HATCH). Sonys SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE (with Scott Rader as vfx supervisor) picked up another $4M to finish ninth on its way to $107M. And Warner Bros. big Oscar hopeful, MYSTIC RIVER, returned to theaters, coming in 10th with lots of awards momentum, grabbing $3.3M for a cume of $58.7M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
