Sony's hit film STUART LITTLE remained at the top of the U.S. box office
this past weekend taking in US$11.21 million in ticket sales. The
giant-sized flick, with primary FX by Sony Pictures Imageworks, additional
animation by CFX and Rhythm & Hues, and miniatures by Thunderstone, has
taken home a little more than cheese with a total purse of $95.3 million.
THE GREEN MILE squeaks by live-action flick THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY to
secure the second spot on the box office charts. The Warner Bros. flick,
with primary visual effects by ILM, Rhythm & Hues, POP and Matte World
Digital, grossed $9.73 million bringing its cume to $91.3 million. GALAXY
QUEST, with primary visual effects by ILM and additional effects by Light
Matters, moved up a spot to #5 with a gross of $8.02 million and a cume of
$38.5 million. TOY STORY 2 finished in 6th place with a gross of $7.15
million and a cume of $219.7 million making it the second highest grossing
animated film in U.S. history. The Buzz and Woody-vehicle moved above
Disney's 1993 release of ALADDIN, which made $217 million. The troop of
toys has quite a bit more to go to become the ruler of the U.S. animated
b.o. LION KING still reigns with a total gross of $312 million. Going into
wider release, New Line's MAGNOLIA, with visual effects by ILM, finished at
#7 with a gross of $5.69 million bringing its total to $6.6 million. Buena
Vista's THE BICENTENNIAL MAN, with visual effects by Dream Quest Images,
came in 8th with a gross of $5.31 million and a cume of $47.2 million. At
#14, FANTASIA/2000 had another stellar weekend making more money than it
did the previous week. On only 54 IMAX screens, the FANTASIA sequel made
$2.59 million raising its total take to $6.9 million. The musical
extravaganza had a per screen average of $47,958, which is more than 12
times the per screen average of the #1 film STUART LITTLE. Other special
effects-laden films finishing in the top 30 include: MGM/UA's THE WORLD IS
NOT ENOUGH at #15, with a gross of $1.83 million and a cume of $120.9
million; Paramount's SLEEPY HOLLOW at #16, with a gross of $1.11 million
and a cume of $94.7 million; Universal's END OF DAYS at #17, with a gross
of $840,000 and a cume of $64.5 million; Buena Vista's THE SIXTH SENSE at
#25, with a gross of $330,000 and a cume of $276.9 million; Lion's Gate's
DOGMA at #28, with a gross of $240,000 and a cume of $29.4 million; and THE
PHANTOM MENACE at #29, with a gross of $180,000 and a cume of $430.7
million. Box office figures obtained on Lyco's ShowBiz Data Base.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
