..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Kim Voynar
..Michael Wilmington

Grin and Bear It The Uprising at the box office wasn't simply a Matrix revolution, though Matrix Revolutions estimated weekend gross of $50.3 million accounted for about one-third of North American moviegoing. Also working a considerable amount of box office magic were the debuts of Elf and Love Actually and generally very good holds for the most popular films in the marketplace. Matrix Revolutions had a jump start on the weekend, debuting Wednesday in most of the world and grossing $35.3 million domestically in its first two days. Industry expectations were that the final chapter of the trilogy would ring up $100 million but Warner Bros.' execs had more modest expectations based on tracking and previews and are hoping Revolutions will perform at about a 75% level to Reloaded and creep to a $200 million box office in North America by the end of the year, and generate more than $1 billion worldwide for the two films. Similarly, international estimates should tally to $119 million for the five days. "I'm just floored by the efforts and results," said producer Joel Silver. "Certainly part of the reason we opened this wide was to put a crimp on piracy and it looks to have been very effective." WB domestic distribution president Dan Fellman said he wasn't aware of any camcorder versions of the film in circulation yet, though there have been at least four instances of people caught attempting to record off the screen. He said the company will pursue criminal lawsuits as a result. Internationally, Matrix Revolutions has proved more potent, just as Reloaded ultimately outpaced domestic by 60%. Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, international distribution president, said that it is both the widest (109 territories) and largest grossing day-and-date debut in history including the first simultaneous bow in China and the widest opening for a film in Russia. Warner sister New Line more than made up for any marginal Matrix slack with considerably better than impish returns of $31.8 million for the holiday comedy Elf. Tracking was solid on the fairy tale but ticket sales were considerably greater than anticipated, suggesting that the film is playing to a pre-teen crowd it was uncertain would kick in on the opening weekend. The presence of Disney's animated Brother Bear was seen as siphoning off a younger audience but both films played well with the latter movie corralling about $18.4 million for a solid hold in its second weekend of wide release. Also unexpectedly above projections was Universal's Love Actually with $6.6 million and a theater average of $11,500. Studio tracking and past performances of similar fare had prognosticators shooting for an engagement average of $7,500 to $8,000 that would have translated into a $4.5 million debut. Overall business shot up considerably from last weekend with ticket sales of close to $160 million. That would translate into a 56% boost and grosses 8% better than in 2002. A year ago, 8 Mile bowed to a staggering $51.2 million but lacked the support of other strong freshmen titles. Among the continuing fare, it's clear that last month's savage assault of violent pix are experiencing the harshest cuts. Nonetheless, Scary Movie 3's humorous edge will translate into a $120 million plus gross and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will push toward $90 million. Kill Bill Vol. 1 could also slice off a $75 million box office and, if it conforms to recent trends, will be hard pressed to deliver better than $60 million for Vol. 2 in February. Both Mystic River and Runaway Jury have proven themselves resilient to date but the coming weeks are likely to take a toll as titles with comparable appeal become more prevalent and eat away at each film's print count. Thus far, the adult crowd hasn't twigged to Beyond Borders, In the Cut and The Human Stain that all appear to be early casualties of awards season. Anticipating a Matrix deluge, the frame was light for both niche premieres and expansions in that arena. The nascent distrib Arenaplex offered up the non-fiction Billabong Odyssey on 27 screens and rendered a dull $51,500 response while Menemsha opened the Hungarian Gloomy Sunday in four locations for a fair $12,200, following a single run in a Chicago suburb that generated in excess of $130,000. Among expansions, the Cannes-prized Elephant added 25 playdates and theater averages of close to $6,000 while the ethically challenged Shattered Glass expanded from 8 to 35 venues and had a $4,500 theater average. - by Leonard Klady