'KONG' FENDS OFF 'LION' ATTACK JACKSON'S GIANT APE TALE CROSSES $100 MILLION MARK.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

During a crowded holiday weekend at the megaplex, the mighty ``King Kong'' was nearly toppled from atop the box office charts but just managed to shake off a strong challenge from ``The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.''

``Kong'' enjoyed robust ticket sales on Christmas night to surge ahead for the weekend after ``Narnia'' had edged ``Kong'' in daily ticket sales midweek and was poised for what would have been a stunning box office upset. But the big ape prevailed with estimated ticket sales of $31.4 million Friday through Monday, crossing the $100 million mark on Saturday. The Universal Pictures release has taken in $118.7 million in less than two weeks.

``The real tale of this holiday is there are two pictures clearly doing great business and I expect they will continue to through New Year's,'' said Universal Pictures Vice Chairman Marc Shmuger. ``It's awfully crowded out there and a lot of movies scrambled for their portion of the box office pie.''

Disney's ``Narnia'' is proving to be the holiday season's biggest blockbuster with $30.1 million in ticket sales Friday through Monday, a drop in ticket sales of just 5.4 percent from the previous weekend. ``We had a couple of days when we were ahead but ('Kong') had a spectacular Sunday,'' said Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Distribution. ``To do this well in the third weekend of our movie, we think this is pretty fantastic and great company to be in. I expect really big things between now and New Year's and I think we'll bust the $200 million mark on or before then.''

``Kong'' and ``Narnia'' retained their dominant positions despite several new releases that bowed either Friday or on Christmas Day, as well as the expansion of several holdover films. Overall, the top 12 films combined to gross an estimated $101.8 million, 14 percent less than the same weekend last year to leave year-to-date grosses more than 5 percent behind 2004, according to the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.

``It's a tough marketplace, really crowded with a lot of inventory out there,'' said President Paul Dergarabedian. ``All the films were vying for the audiences' attention and obviously not all of them can be No. 1. We still weren't able to surpass last year so it's not just about quantity.''

Third-place ``Fun With Dick and Jane'' fared best among the big batch of newcomers. The Sony Pictures Entertainment comedy starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni had an estimated weekend total of $23.5 million. The film opened on Wednesday and has taken in a solid $31 million since then.

``It's where you want to be with a Jim Carrey movie during the holidays,'' said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of distribution. ``It's appealing to all audiences and it delivered.''

Close behind in fourth place was the comedy sequel ``Cheaper by the Dozen 2,'' which reunited Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt and the rest of the cast from the 2002 hit film. Released by 20th Century Fox, the new film took in an estimated $14.8 million over the four-day weekend and has grossed $20.6 million since its Wednesday debut.

Of the Christmas Day releases and expansions, Warner Bros.' ``Rumor Has It'' starring Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine fared best with an estimated two-day take of $7.5 million, good enough for eighth place.

Universal's ``The Producers,'' the film version of the recent Broadway hit, went from limited release in six locations to 975 theaters on Sunday. It took in $3.5 million over the four-day weekend.

The Steven Spielberg-directed drama ``Munich'' opened in 532 theaters Friday and managed to finish just outside the top 10. The Universal release grossed an estimated $5.7 million in its first four days, drawing mainly audiences over the age of 30 and nearly 60 percent male.

The critically acclaimed drama ``Brokeback Mountain'' had its biggest rollout to date (217 theaters) and managed the highest per-screen average ($12,144) of any film in the top 15. The Focus Features release starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal took in an estimated $2.6 million and has a cumulative total of $7.6 million.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

TOP MOVIES

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Final figures will be released today.

1. ``King Kong,'' $31.4 million.

2. ``The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,'' $30.1 million.

3. ``Fun With Dick and Jane,'' $23.5 million.

4. ``Cheaper by the Dozen 2,'' $14.8 million.

5. ``The Family Stone,'' $10.9 million.

6. ``Memoirs of a Geisha,'' $10.2 million.

7. ``The Ringer,'' $8.4 million.

8. ``Rumor Has It,'' $7.5 million.

9. ``Wolf Creek,'' $5.9 million.

10. ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'' $5.7 million.

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TOP MOVIES (see text)