HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS' hold on the number one slot was short lived, as DIE ANOTHER DAY debuted in first place with $47M. The 20th film in the Bond franchise, with visual effects by Cinesite, had the largest opening weekend for any Bond film to date. HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, with primary visual effects by ILM, crossed the $100M mark in its second weekend, bringing in $42.3M for a two-week total of $148.5M. THE SANTA CLAUSE 2, with visual effects by Tippett Studios and GVFX, is still unwrapping big box office numbers, slipping just one spot to fourth and earning $10.3M for a four week cume of $95M. THE RING, with visual effects by Method Studios, Rhythm & Hues, Asylum and Tippett Studios, took in another $7.6M for a total of $110.9M and seventh place. This Wednesday, U.S. theaters will get a rare animated feature film match up, when Disney's PG-rated TREASURE PLANET goes head to head with Adam Sandler's EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS, which is targeted to more adult audiences and rated PG-13. Both will benefit from the 4-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but with stiff family-oriented competition like HARRY POTTER and THE SANTA CLAUSE 2 still performing well at the box office, its anyone's guess how these two pics will fare. Box office information obtained from yahoo.com and boxofficemojo.com.
