`TITANIC' NO ICEBREAKER, BUT IT IS A BLOCKBUSTER.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

``Titanic,'' solidifying its status as a blockbuster, completely dominated the nation's weekend box office with an estimated $29.2 million at 2,767 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period.

The disaster epic, the most expensive movie in Hollywood history at $200 million has now taken in close to $236 million domestically in its first 31 days and should gross an additional $7 million to $10 million today, a holiday for many people in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.

Analysts Arthur Rockwell of Yaeger Capital Markets said that ``Titanic,'' which was financed by Paramount and 20th Century Fox studios, has the potential to go past $350 million in U.S. ticket sales.

``The numbers on `Titanic' are just awesome,'' he said. ``It shows that if you have a great product, people will find out and go see it.''

If that forecast becomes true, ``Titanic'' could wind up as one of the top three U.S. grossers of all time. ``Star Wars'' is the all-time leader with $460.9 million, followed by ``E.T.'' with $399.8 million and ``Jurassic Park'' at $357 million.

The results for ``Titanic'' underscored a strong performance overall by the nation's top films with the first five movies taking in about $65 million compared to about $40 million for the top five movies during the same weekend last year. ``The product flow is much stronger than it was a year ago and that's why you see these numbers being so far up compared with 1997,'' Rockwell said.

Studios and exhibitors usually split the box office revenues. Paramount owns the domestic rights to ``Titanic,'' while Fox has the international territories.

Finishing a distant but respectable second was Miramax's drama ``Good Will Hunting'' with $11.7 million at 1,819 theaters as it continued to benefit from strong reviews and recommendations by moviegoers. It was followed by Warner Bros.' opening of ``Fallen,'' a supernatural thriller starring Denzel Washington with $8.9 million at 2,448 theaters.

Rockwell said that the debut for ``Fallen'' was somewhat disappointing, given the high-profile promotional campaign and the usual drawing power of Washington. He noted that strong reviews could help the movie post respectable numbers in the coming weeks.

Sony's fourth weekend of ``As Good As It Gets'' continued to perform well with $8.5 million at 1,753 theaters, followed by Paramount's opening of ``Hard Rain'' with $7.2 million and Universal's debut of slacker comedy ``Half-Baked'' at $6.5 million. Both openings were in line with lukewarm industry expectations.

Rounding out the top 10 were New Line's fourth week of ``Wag the Dog,'' with $6.3 million; MGM's fifth weekend of ``Tomorrow Never Dies,'' with $5.4 million; DreamWorks' fifth weekend of ``Mouse Hunt,'' with $4.2 million; and DreamWorks' sixth weekend of ``Amistad,'' with $2.8 million.

The only other major opening of the weekend was Trimark's ``Star Kid,'' a science fiction fantasy, with only $2 million at 1,041 theaters. Rockwell said that the debut represented a major disappointment for Trimark, which had launched the movie with a significant promotional campaign. ``There is so much heavy product now that it's easy for movies to get lost in the shuffle,'' he added.

Disney's expanded version of ``Kundun'' posted moderate returns with $1.4 million at 439 theaters.

Final figures for the weekend will be released today.

TOP 10

Here are estimated grosses for the top 10 movies at North American theaters for Friday through Sunday:

1. ``Titanic,'' $29.2 million.

2. ``Good Will Hunting,'' $11.7 million.

3. ``Fallen,'' $8.9 million.

4. ``As Good As It Gets,'' $8.5 million.

5. ``Hard Rain,'' $7.2 million.

6. ``Half-Baked,'' $6.5 million.

7. ``Wag the Dog,'' $6.3 million.

8. ``Tomorrow Never Dies,'' $5.4 million.

9. ``MouseHunt,'' $4.2 million.

10. ``Amistad,'' $2.8 million.

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Box: TOP 10 (See Text)