HOLLYWOOD - Harry Potter continued flying high at the box office with $24 million, while Behind Enemy Lines opened to $19 million and longer lines than expected.With no other wide openings this weekend, Spy Game, Monsters, Inc. and Black Knight held on to their Top Five positions despite predictably high percentage drops from their hefty Thanksgiving weekend grosses.
In typical post-Thanksgiving style, ticket sales tumbled as moviegoers returned to work and school. Key films -- those grossing at least $500,000 -- took in nearly $87 million. While that was up over 3 percent from last year's $84.1 million, it was off nearly 43 percent from Thanksgiving's three day gross of $151.5 million.
THE TOP TEN
Warner Bros.' mega-blockbuster Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone finished first for a third consecutive week with a still enviable ESTIMATED $24.05 million (-58 percent) at 3,672 theaters (theater count unchanged; $6,550 per theater). Its cume is approximately $220.1 million, heading for the high $300 millions in domestic theaters.
(NOTE: Today's percentage variations are calculated against the Friday-Sunday portion of the five day Thanksgiving holiday period.)
Directed by Chris Columbus, Harry stars Daniel Radcliffe in its title role.
Asked where Harry is likely to go domestically, Warner Bros. Distribution executive vice president and general sales manager Jeff Goldstein said Sunday morning, "It's a little too soon to tell. I think we have to get through the next couple weeks. When we look at the percent drops after the holiday, it's very similar to what other big movies like Grinch did for that week right after (Thanksgiving). Our percentage drops are similar to Monsters, Inc. And if you look at all that, it really comes down to how much repeat business we get through Christmas and New Year's."
Warners should also get some help from this year's calendar. "Christmas this year falls on a Tuesday and that is great," Goldstein said. "Christmas and New Year's (both are Tuesdays) and that gives us that extra long holiday weekend two weeks in a row. That's much better than what we've had the last couple of years. When you get a Tuesday or a Thursday (for Christmas and New Year's Day) you really hit pay dirt because people turn that into a long holiday."