'GLORY' NO. 1 AFTER DETOUR.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

It was a No. 1 weekend for The Walt Disney Co. after all.

Final box office figures released Tuesday revealed that Disney's basketball drama ``Glory Road'' earned more during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend than The Weinstein Co. animated film ``Hoodwinked,'' which had initially been reported as the top movie in the marketplace.

``Glory'' took in $16.92 million over the four days, with Monday ticket sales coming in higher than Disney had estimated. Only $48,187 separated the top two films.

``No. 1 is one of the mantles that you strive for; you always think of it,'' said Disney's distribution head, Chuck Viane. ``It's nice to have bragging rights and even more important when filmmakers work so hard. The word of mouth seems to be spreading so quickly that we saw a nice surge in attendance.''

``Hoodwinked'' took in $16.87 million over the weekend, more than most box office prognosticators had expected but ultimately not enough to achieve No. 1 status.

``The number that came in so far exceeded everyone's expectations that I wouldn't care if we were in 10th place,'' said Gary Faber, executive vice president of marketing for The Weinstein Co. ``It was just truly a surprise for everyone and playing for both kids and parents.''

Had ``Hoodwinked'' been able to keep the top spot, it would have represented a significant win for brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, who severed ties last year with Miramax Films, the studio that they founded and Disney bought. The Weinsteins left the Disney fold after numerous battles over the size of budget for their films.

The Weinstein Co., which released its final figures late Tuesday afternoon, had actually underestimated the four-day numbers for ``Hoodwinked'' on Monday when it was thought to be the winner, making the victory by ``Glory Road'' all the more impressive.

When initially reporting last weekend's four-day box office numbers, studios used ticket-sale figures for Friday through Sunday and estimates for Monday. In reporting a typical three-day weekend, the estimate is for Sunday. Final figures are typically closely in line with the estimates, although there are rare times when they differ significantly.

``This has happened in the past with these estimates,'' said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. ``When two films are this close to No. 1, that's the only time when this becomes problematic.''

While Disney was ultimately able to best the Weinsteins, ``Hoodwinked'' still benefited from the entire day it was viewed as as top dog, according to Dergarabedian.

``Bragging rights are important, and once it was publicized as No. 1, it's kind of hard to put that idea away,'' he said. ``In the minds of many, many people, it's king for the day. Disney didn't get that extra day of marketing. But everyone does their best to put out the most accurate possible estimate.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com!dtpost