BOX-OFFICE CHAMPION `POTTER' IS TOP-GROSSING FILM OF YEAR.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer Heavy holiday ticket sales made ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' the top grossing film of 2001 and helped ``Ali'' knock out the previous record for a Christmas Day opening, taking in $10.2 million on its opening day - well ahead of the $8.2 million record held by ``Patch Adams.'' With a five-day holiday period, steady ticket sales drove Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .' ``Potter'' past DreamWorks' ``Shrek'' in the box office race. The fantasy about an 11-year-old boy who goes to wizard school has earned a spectacular $267.7 million and counting at the box office. ``Shrek,'' now a best seller on home video, had grossed $267.6 million domestically during its stellar theatrical run. ``This was a remarkable weekend for us,'' said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros. Based on the best-selling best·sell·er also best seller n. A product, such as a book, that is among those sold in the largest numbers. best book by J.K. Rowling, ``Potter'' opened Nov. 16 to record-shattering numbers bringing in an unprecedented $90.3 million in its first three days of release. The movie has continued to perform well and is considered a lock to cross the $300 million mark during its run, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. ``It was expected that the film would do huge business,'' Dergarabedian said. ``Still, it's an amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. achievement to be at this level this quickly. It's a film that opened in November and before the end of the year, it's the biggest grossing movie. That speaks volumes.'' A more adult-oriented fantasy, ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' has dominated at the box office since its debut Dec. 19. The fantasy epic, adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic about hobbits In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Hobbits are a fictional race related to Men. They first appear in The Hobbit and play an important role in the The Lord of the Rings story. This is a list of hobbits that are mentioned by name in Tolkien's works. , has taken in a total of $94 million after just seven days of release. New Line Cinema's ``Rings'' holds the record for the biggest single-day December gross in history and had the third-biggest Wednesday opening ever. Its performance is all the more impressive because the movie has a three-hour running time resulting in fewer showings per day. ``Rings'' is the first in a trilogy A company founded in 1979 by Gene Amdahl to commercialize wafer scale integration and build supercomputers. It raised a quarter of a billion dollars, the largest startup funding in history, but could not create its 2.5" superchip. of films directed by Peter Jackson which have already been filmed. Subsequent installments will be released during the holiday season in each of the next two years. Led by the phenomenal performances of ``Rings'' and ``Potter,'' Dergarabedian expects the movie industry will cross the $8 billion mark in domestic box office grosses by the end of the week for the first time in history. He projects that by Monday, grosses will have reached $8.35 billion for 2001. In addition to Sony Pictures' ``Ali,'' which features Will Smith as the legendary boxer, Miramax's ``Kate & Leopold'' was the only other wide release to open on Christmas Day. But the romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman took in an unimpressive $2.5 million, averaging only $1,046 per screen in contrast to the $4,177 per screen average of ``Ali.'' Warner Bros.' ``Ocean's Eleven'' is showing tremendous staying power as it brought in $21.3 million over the long Christmas weekend. It crossed the $100 million mark in the process, becoming the 34th film in Warner Bros. history to accomplish such a feat. ``Ocean's,'' starring George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (May 6, 1961) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter who gained fame as the lead doctor in the long-running television drama, ER , Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon, remains in second place at the box office despite heavy competition from several newer releases. The only other new hit to emerge during the holiday weekend was Paramount's ``Jimmy Neutron neutron, uncharged elementary particle of slightly greater mass than the proton. It was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932. The stable isotopes of all elements except hydrogen and helium contain a number of neutrons equal to or greater than the number of protons. : Boy Genius.'' Based on the popular series on the Nickelodeon cable channel, the film has earned $18.5 million over five days and outperformed such heavy hitters heavy hitter n. One that is predominant, as in influence or power: "Especially when a candidate is a challenger, appearances with heavy hitters from the party lend an air of credibility" as Tom Cruise in ``Vanilla vanilla, a plant of the genus Vanilla of the family Orchidaceae (orchid family). Vines of hot, damp climates, most are indigenous to Central and South America, especially Mexico, but are now cultivated in other tropical regions. Sky,'' Jim Carrey “James Carrey” redirects here. For the murder conspirator, see James Carey. James Eugene Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian actor and comedian. in ``The Majestic'' and Tim Allen in ``Joe Somebody.'' `` `The Majestic' has had a disappointing opening but, hopefully, we will get some word-of-mouth on it and hang in there for awhile a·while adv. For a short time. Usage Note: Awhile, an adverb, is never preceded by a preposition such as for, but the two-word form a while may be preceded by a preposition. ,'' Fellman said. ``It's a good movie and hopefully will catch on during the holidays.'' The Cruise film started strong but negative buzz has kept second-week audiences away in droves. ``Vanilla Sky'' managed to bring in only $16.4 million during the long weekend for a cumulative gross of $49.4 million. ``The Majestic'' and ``Joe Somebody'' opened poorly Friday and grossed a paltry pal·try adj. pal·tri·er, pal·tri·est 1. Lacking in importance or worth. See Synonyms at trivial. 2. Wretched or contemptible. $7.3 million and $5.3 million, respectively. In addition to the $8 billion mark, Hollywood is also setting its sights on breaking the contemporary admissions record for most tickets sold in a single year. Theaters will have to surpass 1.48 billion tickets by Monday to set a new record, Dergarabedian said. CAPTION(S): box Box: RINGS OF GOLD |
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