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Paramount Pictures THE SCHOOL OF ROCK toped the box office hcarts in its debut, taking in $19.6M for the weekend ended October 5, 2003. MGMs OUT OF TIME opened in more theaters but came in second at $16.2M. Boy Wonder Visual Effects worked on this action/thriller as did Dennis Hoffman, vfx producer and special effects director Kevin Harris, along with Tim Laundry, vfx supervisor. Universal's THE RUNDOWN, starring The Rock, dropped to third in its second week with $9.7M and a $32.67 cume.

BRUCE ALMIGHTY, the God-induced comedy starring Jim Carrey, scored highest over the Memorial Day weekend, upending the mighty MATRIX RELOADED. The Universal feature, boasting VFX by Illusion Arts (Collin Fowler was the VFX coordinator), took in $86.4M over the four-day period, while Warner Bros.' MATRIX RELOADED dropped 50% in its second week, with $45.7M, despite the biggest ever four-day gross. At $209.5M, the visual effects feast included work from Amalgamated Pixels, Animal Logic, BUF, Bullet Time, CIS, CFX, ESC Entertainment, Giant Killer Robots, PLF Sony Pictures Imageworks and Tippett Studio. However, it broke international box office records around the world taking in $113.2M from 62 countries, which is the first time in history a film has surpassed the $100 million level in one weekend. Sony/Revolution's DADDY DAY CARE dropped to third place, but lost less than 5%, with $18M for a $73M cume. Fox's X2: X-MEN UNITED came in fourth place with $13M for a total of $192M. Contributing VFX to the blockbuster were Cinesite, EYETECH Optics, Frantic Films, Kleiser-Walczak Construction Co. and Rhythm & Hues. Warner Bros,' THE IN-LAWS, meanwhile, debuted in the fifth spot with $9.1M. Cinesite handled VFX chores, with Randall Bahnsen serving as 3D motion tracking supervisor. Fox's DOWN WITH LOVE, featuring VFX by Asylum, hung in there in sixth place with another $5M for a total of $14.6M Disney's THE LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE, dropped to seventh place, with $4M and a $37.3 cume. Rainmaker Digital Pictures did VFX for the film based on the hit TV series about a teen with an animated alter ego. Disney's HOLES held onto the eighth spot with $3M for an impressive total of $60M. Digital FilmWorks and Avtoma of L.A. contributed effects for VFX supervisor William Mesa, founder of Flash Film Works, whose studio did the majority of the work. Sony's IDENTITY plummeted to ninth place with $2.6M for a total of $49.2M. K.N.B. EFX Group Inc. did VFX work for the suspense flick. Sony/Revolutions' ANGER MANAGEMENT suffered a 32.5% drop as it rounded out the tenth spot with $2.4M for a cume of nearly $132M. Sony Pictures Imageworks and the Orphanage did VFX for ANGER.

Twentieth Century Fox's X2: X-MEN UNITED ruled the box office for a second consecutive week, coming in first place at $41.4M for a take of $149M in the U.S. alone. Contributing VFX to the blockbuster were Cinesite, EYETECH Optics, Frantic Films, Kleiser-Walczak Construction Co. and Rhythm & Hues. Sony/Revolution's DADDY DAY CARE debuted in second place with a respectable $27.6M. As a further treat for families, it is accompanied in many theaters by Sony Pictures Imageworks' new CG short EARLY BLOOMER. Disney's THE LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE dropped slightly to third place in its second week at $7.8M and a $27.2M cume. Rainmaker Digital Pictures did VFX for the film based on the hit TV series about the teen with an animated alter ego. Sony's IDENTITY slipped to fourth place, taking in $6.3M for a $39.2M take. K.N.B. EFX Group Inc. did VFX work for the suspense flick. Sony/Revolutions' ANGER MANAGEMENT was fifth, taking in another $5.5M to rack up a total of $122.9M. Sony Pictures Imageworks and The Orphanage did VFX for ANGER. Buena Vista's comedy family/adventure HOLES dipped to sixth place with $4.6M and a $51.4M cume. Digital FilmWorks and Avtoma of L.A. contributed visual effects for VFX supervisor William Mesa, founder of Flash Film Works, whose studio did the majority of the work for the film from Walt Disney Pictures. Warner Bros./Castle Rocks' hilarious A MIGHTY WIND expanded to more theaters and climbed up to seventh place to take in $2.9M and a total of $9.4M. MALIBU'S MOST WANTED slipped to eighth place with $2.1M and a $31.7M cume. C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures did some of the VFX work for the Warner Bros. release. Fox Searchlight's BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM held in ninth place with $1.6M and a total take of $13M. CONFIDENCE from Lions Gate dropped to tenth place with $1.5M and a take of $11M in its third week of release. Pixel Magic and Pacific Title contributed VFX to the con-men drama. X2 will likely get shot down as well as the rest of the contenders when the highly anticipated sequel THE MATRIX RELOADED goes up May 15, 2003. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.

Sony/Revolutions Anger Management hit moviegoers' funnybones just right, delivering an April record $42.2M opening in first place. Sony Pictures Imageworks and The Orphanage did VFX for ANGER. Twentieth Century Fox's PHONE BOOTH, with VFX by Asylum, connected again for with second place with $7.6M and a $26.7M cume. Warner Bros.' WHAT A GIRL WANTS, VFX work done by Cinesite, slipped a little to third place at $6.3M and a $20M take so far. BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE moved up again to fourth, earning $4.5M for a $117.6M cume.

Dreamworks' HEAD OF STATE debuted in first place, taking in $14M. The Chris Rock comedy features VFX work by Toy Box, Pacific Title and Art, Moving Pictures and Big Film Design, which did the Mt. Rushmore effect. BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE was brought down to second place, earning $12.5M for a $100M cume. Paramount's sci-fi thriller THE CORE debuted in third place with $12.4M, with effects from Cinesite, ComputerCafé, CREO, Rising Sun Pictures, Frantic films, Hammerhead Prods., New Deal Studios, Image Savant and 3D Site. Sony/Intermedia's military-themed thriller, BASIC, opened in fourth with $12.1M, with VFX done by Pixel Magic. CHICAGO, with visual effects by Toy Box and Film Effects Inc., moved into its 14th week of release and up to fifth place, taking in $7.4M to bring its total to $144.8M. Warner Bros.' DREAMCATCHER dropped to sixth place with $6.3M and a $25.3 cume. ILM did primary effects with additional work done by XFX Inc. and Pacific Title. AGENT CODY BANKS, with VFX by Pixel Magic and Eyetronics, came in at seventh with $6.1M for a total of $34.8M. Disney's PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE edged down to eighth place in its second week of release for $4.6M and a $12.4M cume. VIEW FROM THE TOP, with VFX from MetroLight Studios, came in at ninth with $3.8M for a total of $12.5M, closely followed by THE HUNTED (VFX supervisor was Eric Brevig, ILM did primary effects), in tenth place with $3.7M and a total of $29.2M. Disney re-released the Oscar-winning SPRITED AWAY to 707 theaters to bring in $1.6M for a total of $7.2M in limited release in the U.S. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.

Warner Bros.' hip hop King Fu actioner CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE (Bryan Hirota was vfx supervisor) debuted at the top of the weekend box office in North America, taking in $17.1M, followed by OLD SCHOOL, vfx by Gray Matter FX, holding at second place at $13.8M and a cume of $37.2M. DAREDEVIL, with primary vfx by Rhythm & Hues, Pixel Magic and Digital Domain, dropped to third pulling in an estimated gross of $11M, and a total of $84.1M. HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, with visual effects by Pixel Magic, dropped to fourth place taking in $10.1M and a $77.5M total.

Moviegoers lifted DAREDEVIL out of relative comic book hero obscurity as the Twentieth Century Fox theatrical release starring Ben Affleck took in $43.5M, the biggest haul ever for a movie opening over Presidents Day weekend. Based on the Marvel Comics blind superhero, the film easily surpassed the previous best of $20.3M for last year's JOHN Q and was the second-best February debut ever behind HANNIBAL two years ago at $58M. Rich Thorne supervised visual effects for Fox with work done primarily by Rhythm & Hues, Pixel Magic and Digital Domain.