'DAMAGE' CONTROLS BOX OFFICE SCHWARZENEGGER VEHICLE A HIT.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

After a five-year hiatus, Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to box office glory over the weekend with the No. 1 debut of ``Collateral Damage,'' which bowed with an estimated gross of $15.2 million.

The opening marked Schwarzenegger's first time atop the box office charts since ``Batman & Robin'' took in $42.9 million in 1997.

``Collateral'' casts the action star as a firefighter battling Colombian terrorists who killed his wife and child. The Warner Bros. film was delayed from its scheduled fall release in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

``Even though $15.1 million isn't a blockbuster, it's still a solid February opening and a No. 1 opening for Arnold,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. ``I think what helped the movie overall was that it was very topical, and I think Warner Bros. was absolutely correct in holding the film in order to be sensitive to the mood of the country.''

Finishing in second place with an estimated take of $11.7 million was the Universal Pictures comedy ``Big Fat Liar'' starring Frankie Muniz. The film has the popular star of ``Malcom and the Middle'' doing battle with a Hollywood producer who he claims stole his idea for a movie.

``Liar'' finished ahead of MGM's action picture ``Rollerball'' starring Chris Klein, LL Cool J and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. A remake of the 1975 futuristic fantasy, ``Rollerball'' brought in an estimated $9 million in its opening weekend. It seems the film, originally slated for release last summer, was unable to overcome a combination of negative prerelease buzz and going head-to-head in the action genre against Schwarzenegger, Dergarabedian said.

MGM had much better luck during the same week last year when its ``Hannibal'' set a February record with an opening weekend gross of $58 million. Because of the ``Hannibal'' figures, the overall gross for this weekend's top 12 films was down by a whopping 22.9 percent from the same week last year.

``Collateral,'' ``Liar'' and ``Rollerball'' ended the three-week box office reign of ``Black Hawk Down'' which finished in fourth place with an estimated gross of $8 million. The Columbia Pictures/Revolution Films military drama has grossed a total of $86.7 million to date.

TOP MOVIES

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released today.

1. ``Collateral Damage,'' $15.2 million.

2. ``Big Fat Liar,'' $11.7 million.

3. ``Rollerball,'' $9 million.

4. ``Black Hawk Down,'' $8 million.

5. ``Snow Dogs,'' $6.7 million.

6. ``The Count of Monte Cristo,'' $6.3 million.

7. ``A Beautiful Mind,'' $5.8 million.

8. ``A Walk to Remember,'' $5.77 million.

9. ``The Mothman Prophecies,'' $4.9 million.

10. ``I Am Sam,'' $4.5 million.

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TOP MOVIES (see text)