***Weekend Box Office***

[Mike]

******THURSDAY'S NUMBERS******

1. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - $14,575,000
2. CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN - $8,200,000
3. PAYCHECK - $5,165,000
4. COLD MOUNTAIN - $4,505,514
5. PETER PAN - $3,900,000
6. SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE - $3,474,000
7. MONA LISA SMILE - $2,730,000
8. THE LAST SAMURAI - $2,583,000
9. BAD SANTA - $1,409,000
10. ELF - $1,213,000
11. STUCK ON YOU - $1,135,000
12. LOVE DON'T COST A THING - $830,000
13. BIG FISH - $800,000
14. THE HAUNTED MANSION - $502,115
15. HONEY - $393,000
16. IN AMERICA - $276,000
17. THE CAT IN THE HAT - $195,000

*CALENDAR GIRLS - $103,459
*21 GRAMS - $94,700
*BROTHER BEAR - $59,363
*THE COMPANY - $34,494
*HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG - $16,136

[Scarface98.9]

I'm surprised about Peter Pan's meager opening numbers, but it could pick up during the weekend

[Mike]

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN did really well, not surprisingly. However, a tad bit surprising is how well PAYCHECK did. I'm kicking myself in the ass right now for lowering my prediction for it now, because I would have been close.

This was my original prediction:

Thursday - 4.9 Million
Friday - 5.6 Million
Saturday - 6.2 Million
Sunday - 4.8 Million

Total - 21.5 Million (Thurs-Sun)/16.6 Million (Fri-Sun)

This was my final prediction:

Thursday - 3.9 Million
Friday - 4.6 Million
Saturday - 5.2 Million
Sunday - 3.8 Million

Total - 17.5 Million (Thurs-Sun)/13.6 Million (Fri-Sun)


Man I'm pissed at myself!


It's too bad PETER PAN didn't do better, but with the word of mouth, it should have some good legs.

Here's my prediction for PETER PAN:

Thursday - 8.9 Million
Friday - 9.2 Million
Saturday - 10.2 Million
Sunday - 7.8 Million

Total - 36.1 Million (Thurs-Sun)/27.2 Million (Fri-Sun)


Here's my prediction for COLD MOUNTAIN:

Thursday - 3.1 Million
Friday - 3.6 Million
Saturday - 4 Million
Sunday - 3.5 Million

Total - 14.2 Million (Thurs-Sun)/11.1 Million (Fri-Sun)


Here's my prediction for CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN:

Thursday - 9.9 Million
Friday - 10.1 Million
Saturday - 11.2 Million
Sunday - 8.8 Million

Total - 40 Million (Thurs-Sun)/30.1 Million (Fri-Sun)

[jolanar]

Wow pretty much everything on their is really surprising, nothing did like I expected it to.

[Nate6]

I said before, in the Predictions thread, that Peter Pan would disappoint...but even I predicted more than that! I said it'd do $17 mil. Fri-Sun...I don't think it can even pull that off...

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by Mike



Here's my prediction for PETER PAN:

Thursday - 8.9 Million
Friday - 9.2 Million
Saturday - 10.2 Million
Sunday - 7.8 Million

Total - 36.1 Million (Thurs-Sun)/27.2 Million (Fri-Sun)

Why are you predicting it'll make 8.9 million on Thursday when it clearly only made 3 million?

[sleekproductions]

Originally posted by Scarface98.9
Why are you predicting it'll make 8.9 million on Thursday when it clearly only made 3 million?

Um... those were the predictions that he made BEFORE the numbers were announced!

[TheLoveBelow]

wow....

I am verry suprised by the LOTR release. I hate those movies and 14 million dosent seem like a lot for that movie...

[sleekproductions]

Originally posted by TheLoveBelow
wow....

I am verry suprised by the LOTR release. I hate those movies and 14 million dosent seem like a lot for that movie...

14 Million is a lot for any movie on Christmas day, when most people want to spend time with their families, and opening presents... besides its been out for more than a week now and has been doing killer business...

[Nate6]

FRIDAY ESTIMATES

1. LOTR: ROTK - $20,814,000 ($5,621 Avg. / 3,703 theatres/ + 42.8% from Thurs. / $193,612,000 total)
2. Cheaper by the Dozen - $10,030,000 ($3,041 Avg. / 3,298 theatres / +22.3% from Thurs. / $18,230,000 total)
3. Cold Mountain - $5,305,000 ($2,453 Avg. / 2,163 theatres / +17.7% from Thurs. / $9,811,000 total)
4. Paycheck - $4,910,000 ($1,778 Avg. / 2,762 theatres / -4.9% from Thurs. / $10,075,000 total)
5. Something's Gotta Give - $4,806,000 ($1,774 Avg. / 2,709 theatres / +38.3% from Thurs. / $46,981,000 total)
6. Peter Pan - $4,370,000 ($1,554 Avg. / 2,813 theatres / +12.1% from Thurs. / $8,270,000 total)
7. Mona Lisa Smile - $4,080,000 ($1,524 Avg. / 2,677 theatres / +49.5% from Thurs. / $24,091,000 total)
8. The Last Samurai - $2,933,000 ($1,147 Avg. / 2,557 theatres / +13.6% from Thurs. / $69,113,000 total)
9. Bad Santa - $1,592,000 ($931 Avg. / 1,710 theatres / +13% from Thurs. / $48,013,000 total)
10. Elf - $1,498,000 ($743 Avg. / 2,015 theatres / +23.5% from Thurs. / $162,197,000 total)

[Damned Martian]

Originally posted by TheLoveBelow
wow....

I am verry suprised by the LOTR release. I hate those movies and 14 million dosent seem like a lot for that movie... Well, if you compare it with the former two parts of the series, you'll see that it's making more money than them in this day. And both of these movies made more than $300 M. So I don't see the bad sign anywhere.

And it really doesn't mind much its run from now on. It's already making benefits worldwide (and yes, I'm considering that the studios only get the 50% of the gross)

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by TheLoveBelow
wow....

I am verry suprised by the LOTR release. I hate those movies and 14 million dosent seem like a lot for that movie...

www.boxofficemojo.com

Look on all three films.

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by sleekproductions
Um... those were the predictions that he made BEFORE the numbers were announced!
If so, then it was initially confusing. They made it sound like it was his prediction for the weekend, even after the numbers came out

[Tuukka]

Originally posted by TheLoveBelow
wow....

I am verry suprised by the LOTR release. I hate those movies and 14 million dosent seem like a lot for that movie...

It's the biggest christmas day any movie has ever had.

[Tuukka]

ROTK dropped only 5% when compared to last friday... The legs are setting in, even thought the boxing day probably helped it. Still, the weekend should bring 55-65 million, which is pretty amazing.

[EDsoulsurvive*]

wtg paycheck, I hope it can edge out Cold Mountain for the weekend but i doubt it will. Then again Cold Mountian looks good too so w.e

[dellamorte dellamore]

I guess 400 mil for Return of the King is just about a given at this point , unless something drastic happens . Now , it's only a matter of it hitting 500 and beyond .


Man , no matter how much i like the film , i wish it would take a bit of a hit , it's getting annoying already , that is , all the success it's experiencing .


I have this adverse reaction to anything that becomes this popular , it only reinforces my contention that ultimately , no matter how brilliant a creation it is , it's a pure mainstream film , that only seeks to please the masses .


Some people feel that M Revolutions exposed that particular trilogy for being a smoke and mirrors let down , especially considering it's box office , on the other hand , i think the LOTR trilogy is being exposed as a pander to the general public fest , considering it's box office performance . It's manipulative , cliched , it's seeks to make everyone feel good , and if it weren't for the " groundbreaking " visuals it would have been a mediocre , expensive b movie .


I have to take a break with this thing , because like another film that i felt was way overrated that was tearing up the box office , Titanic , it's getting annoying already . Not just the film , but PJ , Weta digital , the cast , it's enough already . Yeah , the film is great , but come on already , it's not the most amazing thing ever created .

[Mr. Fred Krueger]

Originally posted by dellamorte dellamore
I guess 400 mil for Return of the King is just about a given at this point , unless something drastic happens . Now , it's only a matter of it hitting 500 and beyond .


Man , no matter how much i like the film , i wish it would take a bit of a hit , it's getting annoying already , that is , all the success it's experiencing .


I have this adverse reaction to anything that becomes this popular , it only reinforces my contention that ultimately , no matter how brilliant a creation it is , it's a pure mainstream film , that only seeks to please the masses .


Some people feel that M Revolutions exposed that particular trilogy for being a smoke and mirrors let down , especially considering it's box office , on the other hand , i think the LOTR trilogy is being exposed as a pander to the general public fest , considering it's box office performance . It's manipulative , cliched , it's seeks to make everyone feel good , and if it weren't for the " groundbreaking " visuals it would have been a mediocre , expensive b movie .


I have to take a break with this thing , because like another film that i felt was way overrated that was tearing up the box office , Titanic , it's getting annoying already . Not just the film , but PJ , Weta digital , the cast , it's enough already . Yeah , the film is great , but come on already , it's not the most amazing thing ever created .

Ya gotta face facts: many people feel that it's a good film and word of mouth is spreading. Not only that, but there are millions of Tolkien fans out there seeing it again and again.

It's gonna take at least one more weekend for things to cool down. Just like the last two.

And I don't agree on this being a b movie at all. B movies have mediocre (although usually in a good way) acting and next to no story. This film has GREAT acting and is a WONDERFUL conclusion to a great series.

I'm predicting it grosses almost as much as Spider-man.

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by dellamorte dellamore


I have to take a break with this thing , because like another film that i felt was way overrated that was tearing up the box office , Titanic , it's getting annoying already . Not just the film , but PJ , Weta digital , the cast , it's enough already . Yeah , the film is great , but come on already , it's not the most amazing thing ever created .
I don't think the cast or PJ would claim it's the greatest thing ever created either. If Joel Silver produced the movies, maybe, but basically, you love the movie, but can't stand its hype/buzz? I can understand, but it seems like you hate the fact it's loved by so many people, which is actually a good thing I think. Maybe it'll get more people to start reading more, and there finally being a trilogy this year that doesn't suck. Although I gotta ask, why do you feel like it's some B movie?

[Mike]

Originally posted by sleekproductions
Um... those were the predictions that he made BEFORE the numbers were announced!

Exactly!

I don't think it was confusing at all. Why would I be predicting for Thursday when Thursday was already done with and the numbers were out? And why would some of my predictions be as off as they were if I already knew what the movies grossed on Thursday and how well/poor they did? These were the predictions I made BEFORE the weekend. I made them last Saturday actually.

[gyro_44]

Originally posted by Homer
Why couldn't LOTR just go away or everyone who planned on seeing it not be able to for some reason or just see something else instead. Something like House of Sand and Fog, a much better movie that deserves to be successful but likely won't because of those stupid hobbits. In a perfect world, Peter Jackson would still be making horror films or not be in the film business at all.
I'm pretty sure those sentiments would be shared by some people... but not by hundreds of thousands of others, like myself, who think the movies are epic and beautiful. The success of them seems to really bother you.

I think ROTK could do $400 million plus. I said before it should pass "Spider-Man" on the all-time chart, and I'm sticking with that.

[Sad man]

I don't think The Lord of the Rings should go away. I'm not a big fan of the movies but I did like the first two, and I will see the third one. But I do agree that people should give small and independent movies like House of Sand and Fog (Just to name one) a chance. These kind of movies turn out to be very deep and great, but they don't make any money at the box office. I think there should be some space left for them.

As for the weekend numbers, I don't care at all. None of the releases were interesting and the only one that I "care" about is an obvious blockbuster hit.

[Mike]

I really hope LOTR: ROTK doesn't beat Spider-Man. That would be very sad. It's already sad that it looks to be the highest grossing movie of the year.

[The Other]

Exactly Mike. I just don't get this series. I find each film to have SERIOUS flaws. Ugh, just don't get the appeal in them. And I like all genre's, don't get me wrong, but these movies aren't my cup o' tea.

[dellamorte dellamore]

I understand what you mean , i felt the same way about Spiderman's success . But , in this instance i can easily why the trilogy , and ROTK in particular is so popular , and why it's box office take is breaking records .


It is an unbelievable creation that only comes along once in a long , long while . It deserves it , but i have a compulsion to disdain anything this popular , no matter how amazing it may be .


At this point i don't see how it won't best S Man's BO take , it's inevitable , the only question is , how far north of 400 mil will it go , as i already stated .

[dellamorte dellamore]

Originally posted by Scarface98.9
I don't think the cast or PJ would claim it's the greatest thing ever created either. If Joel Silver produced the movies, maybe, but basically, you love the movie, but can't stand its hype/buzz? I can understand, but it seems like you hate the fact it's loved by so many people, which is actually a good thing I think.


I like the way you put that , bullseye .

[The Other]

WEEKEND ESTIMATES

(1) Return of the King
Gross: $51.225 mil
Theaters: 3703 (avg. $13833 per theater)
Total: $223.69 mil

(2) Cheaper by the Dozen
Gross: $28.225 mil
Theaters: 3298 (avg. $8558 per theater)
Total: $36.4 mil

(3) Cold Mountain
Gross: $14.5 mil
Theaters: 2167 (avg. $6691 per theater)
Total: $19.0 mil

(4) Something's Gotta Give
Gross: $14.2 mil
Theaters: 2709 (avg. $5242 per theater)
Total: $56.395 mil

(5) Paycheck
Gross: $13.9 mil
Theaters: 2762 (avg. $5033 per theater)
Total: $19.2 mil

(6) Mona Lisa Smile
Gross: $11.5 mil
Theaters: 2677 (avg. $4296 per theater)
Total: $31.486 mil

(7) Peter Pan (2003)
Gross: $11.4 mil
Theaters: 2813 (avg. $4053 per theater)
Total: $15.1 mil

(8) The Last Samurai
Gross: $8.37 mil
Theaters: 2557 (avg. $3273 per theater)
Total: $74.367 mil

(9) Bad Santa
Gross: $4.522 mil
Theaters: 1710 (avg. $2644 per theater)
Total: $50.944 mil

(10) Elf
Gross: $4.275 mil
Theaters: 2015 (avg. $2122 per theater)
Total: $164.863 mil

[Mike]

It's too bad Peter Pan did so poorly. It should have good legs though. I really hope it does. I don't like to see movies bomb, and this one had a budget of 100 Million, so if it doesn't have good legs, it will be a disappointment.

The House of Sand And Fog had a soft gross in its first attempt at a good sized expansion. Hopefully it does better though in the weeks to come.

Calendar Girls did well, even better than last weekend. It made $388,000 this weekend in 42 theaters with a per-screen average of $9,238. I really hope it can continue to do well when it expands next weekend. I'm hoping it doesn't turn out that they went too wide, too fast with it. If handled properly, it could definitely be a sleeper.

Bad Santa and Elf are mostly done for now. They had very good runs, but they should see good sized drops next weekend, and even bigger ones the following weekend.

Love Actually deserved to do better. It's sad how much it made. Sure, it's a good amount, but it deserved to make more. Hopefully it can make it to 60 Million.

[paul]

I really didn't like the first 2 LOTR movies, but I loved ROTK, and REALLY hope it beats the god awful Spider-Man.

It really sucks that Peter Pan didn't do so good. I liked it 8/10 (B+) and I wish that Cheaper By the Dozen made much less 6/10 (C+). I'm happy for Cold Mountain it did very good, and I hope it expands.

[EDsoulsurvive*]

All of the Lord of the Rings movie piss me off. I get frustrated cause i just dont understand what all the hoopla is about. The first movie sucked and the second was only watchable. What am I missing? I think its sucks that ROTK will beat Spider-Man, o well, I have SM2 to look forward to.

WTG Cheaper by the dozen. I love Piper Perabo and Hilary Duff. If Ashton Kutcher didnt looks so atrocious in the previews I would've seen this already.

I want to c Cold Mountain, even though it does not look like my kinda movie. Idk, for some reason i just wanna c it. My parents went last night and loved it, I hope I can get to this sometime soon.

Paychecks weekend numbers are slightly disappointing to me, but still decent i guess. I hope it can reach at least 40 Million.

Peter Pan looked like shit. It is unecessary and i can't believe any studio would shell out 100 million clams for that movie. If they wanted it to b bigger, maybe some advertising would've helped.

[Ed]

Peter Pan (9/10) is an excellent film and should've done better.

[Jon Lyrik]

Originally posted by EDsoulsurvive*
All of the Lord of the Rings movie piss me off. I get frustrated cause i just dont understand what all the hoopla is about. The first movie sucked and the second was only watchable. What am I missing? I think its sucks that ROTK will beat Spider-Man, o well, I have SM2 to look forward to.

a) The "hoopla" is a LOTR film being made and released, an adaptation of a supposedly unfilmable book, and getting almost universal praise.

b) It won't beat Spider-Man unless it gets very leggy.

[EDsoulsurvive*]

Originally posted by Jon Lyrik
a) The "hoopla" is a LOTR film being made and released, an adaptation of a supposedly unfilmable book, and getting almost universal praise.

b) It won't beat Spider-Man unless it gets very leggy.

mwahahahaha YES!

::crosses off "get another schmoe to say hoopla" on to-do list::

ehhh i think it will be VERY leggy. Lets see how it does next weekend, still, I don't think it has too much competition anytime soon.

[Mike]

Originally posted by paul
I'm happy for Cold Mountain it did very good, and I hope it expands.

Umm, it's already wide and in 2,167 theaters, you make it sound like it's in only 200 or so. It's playing everywhere (obviously not EVERY theater, but you know what I mean), sure, it can add more theaters, but that's not going to matter much. It's already set. It had a good opening, has good reviews and award buzz, and will obviously hold up well and make more than it probably deserves. 60 Million seems like a sure thing, with more likely.


Anyway, if ROTK beats Spider-Man, I hope SM2 beats ROTK. ;)

[Mr. Fred Krueger]

Originally posted by Homer
Why couldn't LOTR just go away or everyone who planned on seeing it not be able to for some reason or just see something else instead. Something like House of Sand and Fog, a much better movie that deserves to be successful but likely won't because of those stupid hobbits. In a perfect world, Peter Jackson would still be making horror films or not be in the film business at all.

Of course House of Sand and Fog isn't going to make a shitload of money. It's ONLY IN 400 theaters! Hell, Peter Pan (a movie that may very well be a dud) crushed it.

You'll have to face it, LOTR is a successful franchise that's gonna keep making money, and will get repeat viewings. The film is brilliantly made, and brilliantly made movies deserve the hype and the money.

If a studio really wanted their films to be a success, they would have been smart enough to realize that nothing is gonna go head to head with LOTR and survive. The only film that looks like it'll do any good is Cheaper By the Dozen.

I can see that you're not a big fan of LOTR, but you have to understand that there are millions that are, and they're gonna be the ones to make ROTK a huge success. In a couple of weeks, once things cool down, THEN the other films coming out will get better b.o. receipts.

Really, what was Universal thinking releasing Peter Pan a week after LOTR? Did they really think the money making machine was gonna cool down after a week, and WITH competition from Cheaper by the Dozen, Paycheck, etc.?

[Horror whore]

Originally posted by Mike
Anyway, if ROTK beats Spider-Man, I hope SM2 beats ROTK. ;)

Doubtful, big sequels like that hardly ever make more than the originals... And TTT/RotK don't count, because they're not really sequels, just continuations of the story.


Anyhow....

RotK- I'm happy it's doing so well. It's the best movie of the trilogy and it definitely deserves to make the money it is.

Originally posted by EDsoulsurvive*
The first movie sucked and the second was only watchable. What am I missing?

Your missing RotK.

Cheaper By the Dozen- Another movie that I'm happy is doing well. It was cute, entertaining fluff, and I liked it.

Paycheck- It did "okay." It's not a complete disaster, but it didn't do as well as it should have. It was actually pretty entertaining, but it did seem to have a Minority Report vibe going some of the time which made the movie feel more recycled....

[Tuukka]

It seems that the boxing day screwed the numbers big time by giving ROTK an amazing friday and drops both on saturday and sunday. Still, the results are very impressive and the theater average is very high.

[sharkstank]

go rotk!
i also think it will be very leggy, with no formidable competition for weeks.
hell, nothing's even opening next week.
but who knows, remember last year when just married dethroned the two towers

WWWWHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Mike]

This is from Box Office Guru:

THIS WEEKEND Holiday moviegoers powered the North American box office to one of the biggest weekends in history as four new releases entered the top ten while returning champ The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King remained the number one draw at the multiplexes during the exceptionally busy post-Christmas frame.

Still ruling the box office with the greatest of ease was New Line's megahit The Return of the King which grossed an estimated $51.2M over the Friday-to-Sunday period. Off 30% from last weekend, the Peter Jackson epic has amassed a staggering $223.7M in only 12 days and crossed the double-century mark on Saturday in its 11th day of release. Only last year's Spider-Man has broken the $200M barrier faster accomplishing the feat in nine days in May 2002.

Pulling in ticket buyers in 3,703 theaters, King averaged a potent $13,832 per site, but suffered a stronger decline than last year's The Two Towers. The middle saga in the Middle-earth trilogy slipped 21% in its sophomore frame to $48.9M with a $13,494 average and a 12-day cume of $200.1M. After the first five days of release, King was running 22% ahead of Towers, but now after a dozen days, the lead has been cut to 12%.

Overseas, The Return of the King has watched its total gross skyrocket to an estimated $268.4M from 38 territories putting the worldwide haul after 12 days at an eye-popping $492.1M. In less than two weeks, the concluding installment of the J.R.R. Tolkien series has already become the fourth biggest global grosser of 2003 after The Matrix Reloaded, Finding Nemo, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

In the battle for this weekend's silver medal, Fox's family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen was the clear victor debuting in second place with an estimated $28.2M and a hefty $36.4M since its Thursday opening. The PG-rated film packed loads of starpower with Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Ashton Kutcher, Piper Perabo, Hillary Duff, and Tom Welling. Playing ultrawide in 3,298 theaters, Cheaper averaged a hearty $8,558 per venue and generated the biggest opening ever for a family film in the holiday month of December. With a budget of under $40M, the Shawn Levy-directed film will turn out to be a very profitable title for Fox. It also caps off a record year for Steve Martin who enjoyed the two biggest openings of his twenty-five-year film career in 2003 with Cheaper by the Dozen and March's Bringing Down the House which bowed to $31.1M.

Miramax's high-profile Oscar contender Cold Mountain premiered in third place with an estimated $14.5M and $19M over four days. Directed by Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley), the R-rated film stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Renee Zellweger and averaged a potent $6,704 from 2,163 theaters over three days. The $80M Civil War period drama won rave reviews from critics and earned eight Golden Globe nominations - more than any other film.

Enjoying the best holiday boost in the top ten was the Jack Nicholson-Diane Keaton comedy Something's Gotta Give which spiked 24% to an estimated $14.2M. After 17 days, the Sony release has collected $56.4M and is still aiming for the century mark.

Opening in fourth place was the Ben Affleck actioner Paycheck with an estimated $13.9M and $19.2M since its Christmas Day bow. The Paramount release about a computer engineer fighting the FBI and his corporate bosses over stolen technology averaged $5,033 per location over three days. Directed by John Woo, the PG-13 film also stars Uma Thurman and Aaron Eckhart and drew evenly among males and females and those under and over 25, according to studio research. Reviews were generally bad for the $60M Paycheck which was co-produced with DreamWorks.

Dropping from second to sixth place was the Julia Roberts film Mona Lisa Smile with an estimated $11.5M in its second weekend. Remaining flat with last weekend's debut, the Sony title has grossed $31.5M to date.

Universal's $100M fairy tale adventure Peter Pan bowed in seventh place with an estimated $11.4M and $15.1M since its Thursday launch. Playing in 2,813 theaters, the PG-rated kidpic averaged a mediocre $4,060 over three days. Parents and children made up the bulk of the audience for Peter Pan which had to struggle to find family moviegoers against the Steve Martin hit which drew more than twice as big of a crowd this weekend. Co-produced with Sony and Revolution, Peter Pan already opened at number one in director P.J. Hogan's home country of Australia last weekend.

Moviegoers made a charge for Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai which rose 8% to an estimated $8.4M in its fourth weekend giving the Warner Bros. release $74.4M thus far. Christmas comedies Bad Santa and Elf rounded out the top ten with estimates of $4.5M and $4.2M respectively. Miramax's Billy Bob Thornton hit eased 11% and pushed its total to $50.9M while New Line's Will Ferrell smash dropped 24% and pushed its cume to $164.9M.

Four films fell out of the top ten over the holiday weekend. Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear saw their comedy Stuck on You drop 34% to an estimated $3.5M in its third weekend. With $24.3M in the bank, the Fox release should find its way to $35-38M. Teen comedy Love Don't Cost A Thing fell 19% to an estimated $3.1M. The Warner Bros. title has grossed $16.5M to date and should finish with about $25M.

Disney's The Haunted Mansion grossed an estimated $2.8M, off 29%, for a cume of $64.6M. Look for a $73-77M final. Universal's urban dance pic Honey declined 47% to an estimated $1.4M and lifted its total to $26.7M. A final gross of about $30M could occur.

Critically acclaimed films expanding over the holiday session found mixed results with the paying public. Sony's Big Fish remained a promising title expanding from six to 124 theaters collecting an estimated $2M. Nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture (Comedy or Musical), the Tim Burton fantasy averaged a sparkling $16,129 and expands wider on January 9. Cume stands at $3.5M.

On the other hand, DreamWorks may have gone too wide too fast with House of Sand and Fog which grossed an estimated $1.7M from 438 locations for a mild $3,881 average. The Jennifer Connelly-Ben Kingsley drama expanded from its two platform locations and has grossed $1.8M to date.

Fox Searchlight more than doubled the run of the Irish immigrant drama In America and took in an estimated $975,000 from 325 theaters for a $3,000 average. Total to date is $2.9M. 21 Grams expanded from 71 to 291 sites and grossed an estimated $1.2M for a decent $3,961 average. The Focus title has taken in $4.7M so far.

[badberry]

Originally posted by Mike
I really hope LOTR: ROTK doesn't beat Spider-Man. That would be very sad. It's already sad that it looks to be the highest grossing movie of the year.

Compared to RotK, Spider-Man looks like a high school film project. (IMO of course ;) )

Like I've said before, I hope this movie breaks every record it can....it truly is amazing. How would it be "sad" if it beat Spider-Man? There was certainly enough passion and effort put into it, and it's technically brilliant, even if you don't care for the story (which is considered by many to be a classic of English literature)

[paul]

Originally posted by The Other
WEEKEND ESTIMATES
(4) Something's Gotta Give
Gross: $14.2 mil
Theaters: 2709 (avg. $5242 per theater)
Total: $56.395 mil


DIE, DIE! God I hate this movie!!!!! I wish it would just GO AWAY.