Tagged With: Weekend

For the third weekend in a row, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, with visual effects by Weta Digital, ruled the box office, earning a lordly $25M for a three week cume of $261M. So far, the second installment in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy has earned 26% more over a comparable period of time than its 2001 predecessor, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. This bodes well for the final act, THE RETURN OF THE KING, which will bow in theaters December 2004. Holding on to second place was CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, with visual effects by Asylum and a stunning animated opening sequence by Nexus Prods.

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend worked some magic for HARRY POTTER, but didn't add up to treasure for Disney's latest animated effort. Debuting on Wednesday, November 27, Disney's animated adventure TREASURE PLANET opened in fourth place with $16.5M, barely edging out the holiday's other animated debut, Adam Sandler's EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS, which earned $15.1M over the four-day weekend for fifth place.

Working its magic on the box office this weekend, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS claimed the third highest grossing opening weekend ever, after its predecessor HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE ($90.3M) and this summer's super SPIDER-MAN ($114.8M). Not surprisingly, CHAMBER, with primary visual effects by ILM, was the number one film this weekend, earning $87.6M. The wizards of Hogwart's knocked the rappers of Detroit down to second, as last week's number one film 8 MILE took in $21.7M for a two-week total of $54.4M.

Last week's number one film, RED DRAGON, held off six new wide-release films this weekend to hang on to the top spot. The thriller, with visual effects by Cinesite, earned $17.6M for a two-week total of $67.2M. Theatergoers are still sweet on SWEET HOME ALABAMA, which stayed in second adding $14.1M, for a total of $84.5M. Two new releases the romance BROWN SUGAR and the action flick THE TRANSPORTER, took third and forth, with $11M and $9.1M, respectively.

In a lackluster box office weekend, teen thriller SWIMFAN took the top spot with a mere $11.3M, while last week's number one, SIGNS, fell to fourth. Overall, the top 12 films grossed $59.1 million, making it the worst weekend take of the year, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. In second was indie sensation MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, with $10.4M and $95.8M total, and in third was the crime drama CITY BY THE SEA, debuting with $8.9M. SIGNS, with visual effects by ILM, grossed just $7.9M this weekend but that was enough to help M.

The CIA thriller THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, with visual effects by Rhythm & Hues, came in at number one again this weekend, earning $18.7M for a two-week total of $61.7M. The Ya-Ya's battled the Clones to take second, as chick-flick THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD earned $16.3M in its debut weekend and STAR WARS: EPISODE II, with visual effects by ILM, dropped to third with $13.8M and a four-week cume of $254.9M.

THE TIME MACHINE, the latest adaptation of H.G. Wells classic sci-fi novel about the futuristic land of the Morlochs, was number one this weekend, earning $22.6M in its debut. The film, with visual effects by Digital Domain and ILM, was directed by Simon Wells (PRINCE OF EGYPT), H.G. Wells great grandson. The Vietnam war drama WHEN WE WERE SOLDIERS, with visual effects by Digital Domain, dropped to second, bringing in $14.2M for $40.5M. Disneys RETURN TO NEVER LAND is still staying well within the top ten in its fourth week earning $4.5M for a total of $41.5M to date and sixth place.