The possibility that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone might
tie Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace as the only other
film to earn $200 million in 10 days evaporated Monday as final weekend
results indicated that Warner Bros.’ estimates were off by more than $1
million.
According to Exhibitor Relations, the film actually took in
$57.5 million for the weekend, bringing its total to $187 million.
Pixar/Disney’s Monsters, Inc. was in second place with $24.1
million, bringing its total to $192.2 million after four weeks.
In third
place was Tony Scott’s Spy Game, starring Robert Redford and Brad
Pitt, which debuted with $21.7 million.
With some multiplexes setting
aside as many as half their screens for Harry Potter, many films
were bounced out of theaters entirely or relegated to small rooms. The
result was that overall ticket sales for the top 12 films dropped 15
percent over the weekend to $142.2 million compared to the same weekend
a year ago.
