$9 BILLION BOX OFFICE INDUSTRY'S PURSE BULGING IN RECORD YEAR.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer Hollywood's domestic box office grosses reached a landmark $9 billion annual take for the first time ever over the weekend, industry officials said Sunday. The surge was powered by blockbuster ticket sales for ``The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' and ``Catch Me If You Can.'' Although movie tickets are more expensive than ever, movie attendance is still 5 percent ahead of last year, when the previous single-season record of $8.35 billion was set. ``What a great way to end the year, to have such a huge weekend to propel us to never-before-seen heights at the box office,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. ``We are going out on a really high note.'' In addition, New Line Cinema's ``Two Towers'' took just 12 days to become the seventh film of 2002 to cross the $200 million mark, setting a new industry record for the most movies in one year to achieve reach that benchmark. Finishing in first place for the second weekend, ``Two Towers'' has quickly become one of the year's biggest hits. It brought in an additional $48.9 million for a cumulative gross of $200.1 million, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. studio estimates Sunday. The second in a three-film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic books, ``Two Towers'' is 28 percent ahead of the pace for last year's ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,'' which went on to earn $313.4 million domestically. DreamWorks' ``Catch Me'' bowed on Christmas Day and finished a strong second place, earning an estimated $30 million over the three-day weekend and a stellar $48.6 million in its first five days of release. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11 1974[1]) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor who garnered world wide fame for his role as Jack Dawson in Titanic. and Tom Hanks Noun 1. Tom Hanks - United States film actor (born in 1956) Hanks, Thomas J. Hanks and directed by Steven Spielberg Noun 1. Steven Spielberg - United States filmmaker (born in 1947) Spielberg , ``Catch Me'' drew audiences that were 70 percent over the age of 25, but received high marks from all ages, according to Jim According to Jim is an American situation comedy television series originally broadcast by ABC. The show premiered with little publicity in October 2001, following the surprise hit comedy My Wife and Kids. Tharpe, DreamWorks' head of distribution. ``It's a phenomenal gross, especially with another PG-13 movie ('Two Towers') in the marketplace,'' Tharpe said. ``I don't recall another Christmas holiday season where two movies grossed (a combined) $120 million in five days. ('Catch Me') should continue to play well through January.'' The two films led a top-12 list that saw business increase for all returning films resulting in the highest-grossing Christmas weekend in history with a combined gross of $157.2 million from Christmas Day through Sunday. ``This far surpasses any other Christmas weekend before it,'' said Dergarabedian. ``Christmas has passed, and people just really wanted to catch up on moviegoing, and all of the films benefited. The strength of the weekend really ensured the $9 billion achievement.'' A pair of romantic comedies, ``Two Weeks Notice'' and ``Maid in Manhattan,'' are proving to be solid hits as they finished third and fourth, respectively. Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .' ``Two Weeks,'' starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock, earned an estimated $16.1 million during its second weekend of release, as its audience grew 12 percent from last weekend. The film has grossed an impressive 43.9 million to date. Sony Pictures Entertainment's ``Maid'' saw its fortunes rise by 21 percent in its third weekend to earn $13 million. The Jennifer Lopez-Ralph Fiennes Cinderella-like story has brought in a solid $57.4 million so far. Miramax Films' ``Gangs of New York'' expanded to 2,190 theaters and finished in fifth place, with a weekend gross of $11.2 million. The Martin Scorsese-directed epic has earned $30.1 million in two weeks of release. ``Gangs'' is one of the season's leading award contenders, along with another Miramax release, ``Chicago,'' the long-awaited film version of the classic Broadway musical. ``Chicago'' debuted Friday in just 77 theaters and earned an impressive $2.1 million, averaging an outstanding $27,299 per screen. The critically acclaimed Paramount Pictures release ``The Hours,'' starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep Noun 1. Meryl Streep - United States film actress (born in 1949) Streep and Julianne Moore Julianne Moore (born December 3, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning American actress. She has been nominated for four Academy Awards. Biography Early life Moore was born Julie Anne Smith in Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, North Carolina,[] , opened in just 11 theaters and had an astounding a·stound tr.v. a·stound·ed, a·stound·ing, a·stounds To astonish and bewilder. See Synonyms at surprise. [From Middle English astoned, past participle of astonen, per-screen average of $30,636. The film earned a total of $357,000 and goes into wide release next month. With school out for the holidays, family oriented films also received a bump, including Warner Bros.' ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,'' which climbed back up to eighth place in its seventh weekend to earn another $6.5 million for a cumulative gross of $240.3 million. But families stayed away from Miramax's ``Pinocchio'' in droves. Dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. in English and starring Roberto Benigni, the Italian film opened on Christmas Day and managed to earn just $1.1 million in nearly 1,200 theaters. It had a woeful woe·ful also wo·ful adj. 1. Affected by or full of woe; mournful. 2. Causing or involving woe. 3. Deplorably bad or wretched: per screen average of just $954. TOP MOVIES Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co., Inc. Final figures will be released Monday. 1. ``The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,'' $48.9 million. 2. ``Catch Me If You Can,'' $30 million. 3. ``Two Weeks Notice,'' $16.1 million. 4. ``Maid in Manhattan,'' $13 million. 5. ``Gangs of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ,'' $11.2 million. 6. ``Drumline,'' $8.4 million. 7. ``The Wild Thornberrys Movie,'' $7.4 million. 8. ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,'' $6.5 million. 9. ``The Hot Chick,'' $4.8 million. 10. ``Die Another Day,'' $4.5 million. - Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. CAPTION(S): box Box: TOP MOVIES (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion