REAPING 'POTTER' OF GOLD HIT KIDS FLICK GROSSES $90.3 MILLION IN DEBUT.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer The final weekend grosses for ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' came in at $90.3 million Monday, slightly lower than Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .' original estimates but still strong enough to break the box office records for a holiday or nonholiday opening weekend. The film, adapted from the immensely popular book by British author J.K. Rowling, is also projected to reach the $100 million box office mark today, one day less than the five days it took ``Star Wars: Episode I -The Phantom Menace'' to cross that threshold. ``I think it has an excellent chance of crossing $100 million on its fourth day, which would be an all-time record,'' said Gitesh Pandya, president of BoxOfficeGuru.com. ``On it's first Monday First Monday is a short-lived U.S. television drama centered on the U.S. Supreme Court. Created by JAG creator Donald Bellisario, the show aired on CBS from January until May of 2002. , 'Phantom Menace' did $10.9 million so 'Potter' is in the same situation but it's in a lot more theaters and ticket prices are higher 2 1/2 years later.'' Directed by Chris Columbus, ``Harry Potter'' broke many major industry box office records over the weekend. Among them: The largest three-day gross in movie history, surpassing the $72.1 million gross in 1997 by ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park.'' The film also topped the $90.2 million four-day Memorial Day gross of ``The Lost World'' in just three days. The largest nonholiday opening of any film, easily passing the $68.5 million record set by ``Planet of the Apes'' in July. The single biggest day at the box office ever with $33.5 million worth of tickets sold Saturday, breaking its own record of $32.3 million set Friday. Prior to ``Harry Potter,'' the single-day record of $28.5 million was held by ``The Phantom Menace MENACE. A threat; a declaration of an intention to cause evil to happen to another. 2. When menaces to do an injury to another have been made, the party making them may, in general, be held to bail to keep the peace; and, when followed by any inconvenience or .'' The widest opening in history. The movie played in 3,672 theaters, edging the debut of last year's ``Mission Impossible 2'' which bowed in 3,653 sites. With multiple bookings in multiplexes nationwide, ``Harry Potter'' was on a total of 8,200 screens, more than doubling the previous record. --The second-largest Sunday gross of all time with $24.4 million in ticket sales. ``The Lost World'' retains the record for a Sunday with $26.1 million. ``This movie has gone into territory that we've never seen before,'' Pandya said. ``I think there's already some repeat business going on and Thanksgiving Thanksgiving annual U.S. holiday celebrating harvest and yearly blessings; originated with Pilgrims (1621). [Am. Culture: EB, IX: 922] See : America Thanksgiving national holiday with luxurious dinner as chief ritual. [Am. Pop. will be huge.'' Pandya projects that the film will likely make more than $70 million during the Thanksgiving weekend. But he is doubtful it will ever overtake o·ver·take tr.v. o·ver·took , o·ver·tak·en , o·ver·tak·ing, o·ver·takes 1. a. To catch up with; draw even or level with. b. To pass after catching up with. 2. the all-time box office champ, ``Titanic Titanic (tītăn`ĭk), British liner that sank on the night of Apr. 14–15, 1912, after crashing into an iceberg in the N Atlantic S of Newfoundland. More than 1,500 lives were lost. ,'' which grossed $600.8 million domestically. ``Although the attention is all on 'Harry Potter' right now, in a few weeks, people will divert to 'The Lord of the Rings,' 'Ocean's Eleven,' 'Vanilla Sky' and 'Ali,''' he said. ```Titanic' had no competition.'' Many of the youngsters and their parents who have been flocking to the movie during its opening days are already fans of the series of ``Harry Potter'' novels. ``We've been reading the books and it's the first book I've been able to enjoy with them,'' Van Nuys resident Glynis Fitzgerald said Monday afternoon as she arrived at the Winnetka Stadium 21 theaters to catch an afternoon matinee mat·i·nee or mat·i·née n. An entertainment, such as a dramatic performance or movie, presented in the daytime, usually in the afternoon. of the film. Her children, Connor, 10, and Ryan, 8, appeared to be in Hogwarts heaven after having a half-day at school, then going to see ``Harry Potter'' with their parents. ``It's a cliffhanger cliff·hang·er n. 1. A melodramatic serial in which each episode ends in suspense. 2. A suspenseful situation occurring at the end of a chapter, scene, or episode. 3. always,'' Connor said. ``I can't wait to start on the third book, and I can't wait to see the movie.'' Dad Jim Fitzgerald James F. Fitzgerald (born March 1926 in Janesville, Wisconsin) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as a former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors, both NBA teams. Fitzgerald attended Notre Dame ('47). said the family outing had been much anticipated. ``The kids behaved all weekend,'' he said. ``In fact, they were the best they've ever been.'' Northridge resident Kay Markey, who has been a movie buff ``for well over 75 years,'' said that ``all the the hyperbole'' led her to choose ``Harry Potter'' as her film for the week. ``I've never seen such interest like this except for maybe ``E.T.'' in 1982,'' said Markey, whose mother was a film reviewer re·view·er n. One who reviews, especially one who writes critical reviews, as for a newspaper or magazine. reviewer Noun a person who writes reviews of books, films, etc. Noun 1. and whose grandmother played piano in silent movie theaters. ```Harry Potter' seems to have the same kind of magic as 'The Wizard of Oz' in 1939,'' Markey said. ``That movie worked due to the magic of Judy Garland Garland, city (1990 pop. 180,650), Dallas co., N Tex., a suburb of Dallas; inc. 1891. Since World War II, Garland has grown from an agricultural community into an important center for electronics research and for the production of electronic equipment. , and I'm really looking forward to seeing something special like that all these years later.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Adult fans Ann Esguerra, left, and Kay Markey saw a Monday showing of ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.'' Michael Owen
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