`TOY STORY' PLAYS HUGE FOR HOLIDAY; SEQUEL SHATTERS RECORD.

Byline: Dave McNary Staff Writer

Woody and Buzz Lightyear lured massive numbers of moviegoers to the nation's multiplexes as ``Toy Story 2'' dominated a robust Thanksgiving holiday with an estimated $80.8 million at 3,236 theaters during the Wednesday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

``Toy Story 2,'' riding the crest of widespread recognition of the 1995 original, solid reviews and a well-tuned marketing campaign, destroyed last year's record of $45.7 million by ``A Bug's Life'' for top Thanksgiving performance. Sell-out business ruled at many theaters following its nationwide rollout Wednesday.

``The public really wanted to see this movie, and people who have seen it say they want to see it again,'' said distribution chief Chuck Viane. ``It's going to be around for a long time. The beauty of this movie is that it actually exceeds the hype.''

``Toy Story 2,'' co-produced with Pixar Animation and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, began the holiday by grossing $9.5 million on Wednesday and $13.2 million on Thursday before setting a single-day studio record Friday with $22.8 million, followed by $21.5 million Saturday.

Viane said the Friday-Sunday number should be $57.7 million, giving ``Toy Story 2'' the third-highest weekend gross ever after ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' with $72.8 million and ``Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace'' with $64.8 million.

Robert Bucksbaum, president of the Reel Source tracking service, said ``Toy Story 2'' dominated every audience sector except for young adults and came in well above forecasts. ``No one expected numbers like this because family films have not been doing that well,'' he added. ``It will certainly make it to $200 million.''

``Toy Story 2,'' which first opened at the El Capitan in Hollywood for five days on Nov. 19 before going nationwide, also posted the third-highest gross for a five-day period behind only ``Phantom Menace'' with $105 million and ``Independence Day'' with $85 million.

Industry tracker Arthur Rockwell noted that Disney and Pixar, which saw domestic grosses for the original ``Toy Story'' hit $191.8 million, had planned initially to release ``Toy Story 2'' as a direct-to-video title. ``It's ironic they didn't originally see much potential in a theatrical sequel,'' he added.

Three other high-profile entries turned in solid performances during the five-day period - MGM's second weekend of ``The World Is Not Enough'' with $35 million at 3,163 theaters; Universal's opening of Arnold Schwarzenegger's ``End of Days'' with $31 million at 2,592 sites; and Paramount's second weekend of ``Sleepy Hollow'' with $27.4 million at 3,067 screens.

With that quartet grossing nearly $175 million, overall business approached the $210 million mark for an impressive 27 percent jump from last year's holiday period. Year-to-date business has gone past the $6.6 billion mark and is running 9 percent ahead of last year's record-setting pace.

``The domestic box office just won't quit,'' said Rockwell, noting that rivals have decided to hold off any major new releases this coming weekend. ``These four movies should have the field to themselves for a while.''

``World,'' the 20th James Bond movie, has topped $75 million in 10 days and appears headed toward becoming the best performer in the series. 1997's ``Tomorrow Never Dies'' is the top domestic grosser with $125.2 million and 1995's ``Goldeneye'' has the worldwide mark with $351 million.

``End of Days,'' which carries an R rating, posted a better per-theater average than ``World'' and showed that Schwarzenegger, who plays an ex-cop battling Satan, still carries significant box office power. Bucksbaum noted that the thriller faced significant competition for the young adult audience from ``Sleepy Hollow,'' which has topped $62 million in 10 days, while ``Toy Story 2'' competed most directly against the Bond movie.

Warner Bros.' third weekend of ``Pokemon: The First Movie'' finished a distant fifth with $9.1 million at 3,043 theaters. Bucksbaum said the animated entry, which has gone past $77 million, benefited from sell-outs of ``Toy Story 2.''

Universal's third weekend of ``The Bone Collector'' followed in sixth with $7.3 million at 2,505 theaters to pass $53 million overall. Rounding out the top 10 were Lions Gate's third weekend of ``Dogma'' with $4.8 million at 1,292 locations, 20th Century Fox's third weekend of ``Anywhere But Here'' with $4 million at 1,666 sites, Disney's fourth weekend of ``The Insider'' with $3.3 million at 1,672 theaters and USA Films' fifth weekend of ``Being John Malkovich'' with $2.9 million at 589 locations.

Disney's ``The Sixth Sense'' continued to draw well after 17 weeks with $2.2 million at 1,017 theaters, pushing its overall take to $272.4 million. MGM's opening of ``Flawless,'' a drama-comedy with Robert De Niro as a recovering stroke victim, posted moderate returns with $2 million at 478 theaters.

Estimated ticket sales for Wednesday through Sunday at North American theaters. Final figures are to be released today.