..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..Emanuel
Levy
..David
Poland
..Doug
Pratt
..Ray
Pride
The King is in His Counting House …
Weekend Finals
There's little doubt that Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King rules as it added an estimated $51.3 million during the three-day Christmas holiday weekend as part of the roughly $190 million in movie ticket sold in North America. The finale to the popular trilogy could well out perform the prior two chapters domestically and push the trio's collective gross to $1 billion.
The more difficult question is whether any of the new or recent yuletide entries can touch the hem of the monarch.
The top freshman entry was Fox's updated Cheaper by the Dozen with an estimated $28.5 million weekend and $36.6 million since bowing Christmas day to rank second. The lowbrow family hijinx definitely connected with children and parents and swallowed up a sizeable slice of that crowd to the detriment of other family themed movies. It has excellent prospects for a $100 million domestic gross.
Cheaper's solid debut came at the expense of Universal's Peter Pan which slotted sixth with $11.7 million and $15.4 million for the four day. Audiences elected for crass over class and the boy who wouldn't grow up is in dire need of bodies rather than pixie dust as it trudges into the New Year.
The highly bally-hoed bow of Cold Mountain verged on the frosty with a $14.4 million weekend and $18.8 million cume. Miramax had a similar upscale challenge last year with The Gangs of New York and may be able to climb slightly higher with the new film pushing its romantic elements to a distaff crowd.
Also bowing was the thriller Paycheck with a weekend tally of $13.6 million and $18.9 million to date. The Ben Affleck vehicle appears headed toward a $60 million domestic gross that is likely no better than had it elected to debut in the Spring. Its commercial fate will largely be shaped by response in overseas markets.
Though holiday ticket buying ballooned by 34% from last weekend, the portioning out of dollars resulted in an equal share of treats and lumps of coal. Business was also a slight 6% ahead of 2002 when the box office leader was The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at $48.9 million and the sole national debut Catch Me If You Can ranked second with $30.1 million.
The die has also been cast for a number of ongoing titles with early seasonal casualties shaping up for Mona Lisa Smile and Stuck on You. While Julia Roberts' Mona Lisa dipped just 1%, the period drama had a disappointing launch and is losing its audience to other movies in the marketplace. Stuck is simply hemorrhaging at a more accelerated rate and won't do much better than a $30 million gross.
Conversely, Something's Gotta Give is emerging as the adult film of choice, rising 24% for a $14.1 million weekend and $56.3 million cume. The Diane Keaton-Jack Nicholson romantic comedy is beginning to see its appeal broaden and likely to sustain beyond the holiday frame from Oscar and other award attention. There's no need to overplay the obvious success of Elf and Bad Santa or the commercial disappointment of The Last Samurai.
Several films launched significant expansion but only Big Fish sustained its initial momentum. The oddball human comedy went from six to 124 playdates and rang up $1.9 million and theater averages of $15,700. The critically lauded House of Sand and Fog added 436 locations from its initial two theater run and grossed $1.8 million and a $4,100 average engagement and the addition of 200 plus theaters for 21 Grams resulted in a comparable $4,020 per location average. Softish results were also indicative for In America.
A couple of films were in the still too close to call column. Buena Vista doubled its limited run on Calendar Girls and generated a $9,260 per screen with prior runs going up by 50% on average. The acid test for the uplifting comedy will occur with a New Year expansion to 700 theaters. Similarly, Lions Gates' Girl with the Pearl Earring bumped up nicely as it grew from eight to 25 venues and registered a $7,200 average. Again, greater hurdles loom but the film shows signs of developing a solid buzz and growing interest.
Christmas also featured a few limited and specialized openers including the Hindi-language L.O.C. (Kargil) with close to $300,000 from 61 circuit screens. There was strong response for Newmarket's four screen launch of Monster that's been garnering tremendous buzz for Charlize Theron as serial killer Aileen Wuronos. It grossed just shy of $100,000 in its first four days of release. Finally, Sony Classics' ballet-themed The Company had an encouraging $130,000 box office from 11 engagements since its Christmas day bow.
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Weekend Finals - December 26-28, 2003
Title Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 50,598,104 -30% 3703 222,268,708 Cheaper by the Dozen 27,557,647 3298 35,397,241 Cold Mountain 14,574,213 2163 19,079,727 Something's Gotta Give 13,816,638 21% 2709 55,902,582 Paycheck 13,462,374 2762 19,043,607 Mona Lisa Smile 11,351,439 -2% 2677 31,226,270 Peter Pan 11,139,495 2813 14,627,615 The Last Samurai 8,236,947 7% 2557 74,324,104 Bad Santa 4,526,000 -11% 1710 50,947,195 Elf 3,906,028 -29% 2015 164,648,692 Stuck on You 3,626,868 -31% 2400 24,412,346 Love Don't Cost a Thing 2,953,073 -21% 1133 16,431,144 The Haunted Mansion 2,860,015 -27% 1622 64,736,126 Big Fish 2,053,733 1147% 124 3,505,172 House of Sand and Fog 1,720,438 438 1,811,537 Honey 1,417,310 -48% 760 26,638,660 The Cat in the Hat 1,260,080 -45% 1299 97,011,510 21 Grams 1,223,891 374% 291 4,771,830 Master and Commander 1,160,829 -23% 751 80,688,206 In America 1,070,721 112% 325 2,992,911 Love Actually 828,365 -28% 408 55,902,582 The Young Black Stallion 629,999 51 702,402 Gothika 607,029 -51% 406 57,455,180 Brother Bear 506,627 12% 564 82,108,948 Calendar Girls 396,533 162% 42 749,028 Lost in Translation 370,468 45% 117 30,656,612 Mystic River 325,183 6% 201 53,545,615 The Cooler 308,756 8% 77 1,195,274 The School of Rock 258,440 8% 356 79,697,953 Matrix Revolutions 244,279 -10% 116 137,882,816 L.O.C. (Kargil) 223,793 58 356,768 Santa vs. the Snowman 222,304 -20% 46 2,466,457 Radio 206,820 17% 226 51,422,388 The Triplets of Belleville 201,540 241% 48 654,164 Girl with a Pearl Earring 188,756 166% 26 457,769 Looney Toons: Back in Action 188,405 75% 336 20,212,511 Nez rouge 185,395 59% 58 1,341,231 Space Station 182,684 206% 16 45,995,271 Scary Movie 3 164,287 365% 195 109,271,669 The Missing 134,719 -68% 146 25,904,967 The Station Agent 130,356 -15% 124 4,582,209 Under the Tuscan Sun 101,502 407% 158 43,095,548 The Company 93,776 11 128,270 The Barbarian Invasions 89,274 17% 58 5,672,280 Monster 86,831 4 103,599 Underworld 79,478 103 51,741,634 Runaway Jury 77,726 -11% 107 48,893,761 Freaky Friday 73,068 -23% 124 110,042,380 The Fog of War 58,137 40% 5 134,118 The Statement 56,618 158% 17 156,795 Kal Ho Naa Ho 52,013 -45% 21 1,879,848 Timeline 49,665 -63% 320 19,043,607 Annie Brocoli dans les fonds marin 48,638 1% 49 147,776 Alexander's Project 43,523 17% 10 104,939 Kill Bill Vol. 1 35,998 -17% 48 69,577,340 Modern Times (reissue) 35,809 7 35,809 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 35,264 -35% 51 80,213,803 Blizzard 31,985 -62% 88 385,810 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over 31,329 -20% 59 111,610,328 Shattered Glass 24,974 -27% 35 2,053,255 Intolerable Cruelty 22,724 -15% 31 35,254,176 My Architect 19,258 19% 3 311,518 Pieces of April 18,107 -59% 25 2,360,184 Elephant 18,042 -24% 14 1,227,000
Estimates - December 26-28, 2003
Title % change Theaters Cume Lord of the Rings: Return of King -29% 3703 223.8 Cheaper By the Dozen - 3298 36.6 Cold Mountain - 2163 18.8 Something's Gotta Give 24% 2709 56.3 Paycheck - 2762 18.9 Peter Pan - 2840 15.4 Mona Lisa Smile -1% 2677 32.5 The Last Samurai 8% 2557 74.4 Bad Santa -13% 1710 50.8 Elf -23% 2015 164.8 Stuck on You -41% 2400 24.9 Love Don't Cost a Thing -21% 1133 16.5 Haunted Mansion -28% 1622 64.6 Big Fish - 124 3.4 House of Sand and Fog - 438 1.9 Honey -46% 756 26.1 The Cat in the Hat -47% 1296 97 Master and Commander -20% 751 80.7 21 Grams 352% 291 4.7 In America 106% 325 2.9 Love Actually -23% 409 56