New Line Cinema’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the third and final installment in director Peter Jackson‘s fantasy epic, continued its reign at the box office in its third week with a courtly $30.7 million* over the New Year’s weekend.
That’s definitely good news for New Line’s year-end totals. With the help of the successful The Return of the King, the studio crossed the billion mark in 2003.
With no new wide releases this week, the rest of the box office list was an almost exact repeat of last week’s top 10. The comedy Cheaper by the Dozen maintained its second place status with a respectable $21.8 million, followed by the romantic Something’s Gotta Give, which moved up a spot to third place with $12.5 million.
The nippy Cold Mountain dropped a spot to fourth with $11.7 million, while Ben Affleck sci-fi thriller Paycheck rounded out the top five once again with $10 million.
The Top 12 films this weekend grossed an ESTIMATED $124.5 million, down 24.92 percent from last weekend’s $165.8 million take but up 14.47 percent from the same weekend last year’s $108.7 million.
THE TOP TEN
New Line Cinema’s PG-13 rated fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King kept its No. 1 stronghold in its third week of release with an ESTIMATED $30.7 million (-39%) at 3,703 theaters (unchanged; $8,304 per theater). Its cume is approximately $291.9 million.
Directed by Peter Jackson, it stars Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan.
Twentieth Century Fox’s PG rated comedy Cheaper by the Dozen stayed in second place in its second week with an ESTIMATED $21.8 million (-21%) in 3,307 theaters (+9 theaters; $6,607 per theater). The family comedy’s cume is approximately $86 million.
Directed by Shawn Levy, it stars Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff and Tom Welling.
Sony Pictures’ PG-13 rated romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give moved up one spot to third in its fourth week with an ESTIMATED $12.5 million (-10%) at 2,808 theaters (+99 theaters; $4,452 per theater). Its cume is approximately $43.8 million.
Directed by Nancy Meyers, it stars Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Keanu Reeves, Amanda Peet and Frances McDormand.
Miramax Films’ R rated Civil War drama Cold Mountain dropped a spot to fourth place with an ESTIMATED $11.7 million (-19%) in 2,216 theaters (+53 theaters; $5,297 per theater). The romantic Civil War drama has taken in approximately $43.8 million so far.
Directed by Anthony Minghella, it stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger.
Paramount Pictures’ PG-13 rated sci-fi thriller Paycheck maintained its fifth position in its second week with an ESTIMATED $10 million (-25%) in 2,762 theaters (unchanged; $3,621 per theater). The sci-fi thriller’s cume is approximately $38.8 million.
Directed by John Woo, it stars Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman.
Sony Pictures’ PG-13 rated drama Mona Lisa Smile kept smilin’ steady at No. 6 in its third week with an ESTIMATED $8.7 million (-23%) in 2,714 theaters (+37 theaters; $3,206 per theater). Its cume is approximately $50.2 million.
Directed by Mike Newell, it stars Julia Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kirsten Dunst and Julia Stiles.
*Box office estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations, Inc.
Universal Pictures’ PG rated family pic Peter Pan stayed in seventh place in its second week with an ESTIMATED $8.4 million (-24%) at 2,813 theaters (unchanged; $3,010 per theater). The live-action film, based on the J.M. Barrie classic children’s story, has taken in approximately $33.8 million so far.
Directed by P.J. Hogan, it stars Jeremy Sumpter, Jason Isaacs and Ludivine Sagnier.
Warner Bros.’ R rated period actioner The Last Samurai held onto eighth place in its fifth week with an ESTIMATED $7.4 million (-10%) in 2,401 theaters (-156; $3,109 per theater). Its cume is approximately $90.1 million.
Directed by Edward Zwick, it stars Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Tony Goldwyn and Timothy Spall.
With an expanded release, Buena Vista’s PG-13 rated British comedy Calendar Girls broke into the top 10 list at No. 9 in its third week with an ESTIMATED $4.6 million in 745 theaters, averaging $6,174 per theater. Its cume is approximately $7.1 million.
Based on a true story, the film is about a group of older women who pose for a charity pinup calendar, become instant celebrities, and learn life lessons on their journey from England’s Yorkshire Dales to Hollywood and back again.
Directed by Nigel Cole, it stars Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.
Miramax Films’ R rated dark comedy Bad Santa dropped a spot to round out the top 10 in its sixth week with an ESTIMATED $3 million (-33%) at 1,710 theaters (unchanged; $6,174 per theater). Its cume is approximately $57 million.
Directed by Terry Zwigoff, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, Tony Cox and John Ritter.
WEEKEND COMPARISON
Last year, New Line’s PG-13 rated The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers stayed at No. 1 in its third week with $25 million in 3,622 theaters (unchanged; $6,907 per theater); DreamWorks’ biopic Catch Me If You Can held onto second place in its second week with $21.4 million 3,170 theaters ($6,670 per theater); Warner Brothers’ PG-13 rated romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice followed in third place in its third week of release with $11.1 million in 2,755 theaters (unchanged; $4,039 per theater).
