"It's obviously the largest Friday, which was Planet of the Apes at $24.6 million. The largest Saturday was Mummy Returns at $26.9 million. The largest Sunday with a holiday was Jurassic [Lost World] at $26 million. The largest Sunday without a holiday was Episode One [Star Wars: The Phantom Menace] at $21.9 million. The largest single day was [Phantom Menace's] $28.5 million, so every day [of Harry this weekend] beats that. It's the largest three-day opening of the year. The largest single week was Star Wars [The Phantom Menace], which did $124 million. That's (going to be) history."
Looking ahead, Fellman pointed out, "This is a very big grossing Monday through Thursday [pre-Thanksgiving period]. It's huge. Grinch, which did $55 million for the weekend [this time last year] did $30 million Monday through Thursday. They did $3.6 on Monday, $4.8 on Tuesday, $9.3 on Wednesday and $12 million on Thanksgiving Day. So we're going to have a monster week."
As for when Harry will hit $100 million, Fellman replied, "I'm hoping to hit it tomorrow. That's the only record left. The fastest climb to $100 million was Star Wars [The Phantom Menace] in five days -- $105 million in five days. I'm hoping we can get there on Monday. And, of course, the records we've broken already were the number of runs and the number of prints."
Audiences are responding very well to the film, Fellman added: "Eight to 80, the kids love it. Parents love it. The exits are sensational. The recommendations are fantastic. Non-readers and readers, you name it, it's just beautiful. You couldn't write a better scenario for what happened here."
Buena Vista/Disney and Pixar Animation Studios' G rated computer animated feature Monsters, Inc. slid one slot to second place in its third week with, considering its new competition, an okay ESTIMATED $23.0 million (-49%) at 3,461 theaters (+192 theaters; $6,660 per theater). Its cume is approximately $156.7 million, heading for $225 million or more in domestic theaters.
Directed by Pete Docter, it was co-directed by Lee Unkrich and David Silverman and written by Andrew Stanton and Daniel Gerson.
20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated romantic comedy Shallow Hal slipped one peg to third place in its second week with a slimmer ESTIMATED $12.7 million (-44%) at 2,803 theaters (+33 theaters; $4,531 per theater). Its cume is approximately $41.3 million, heading for $75 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly, it stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black.