Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) readies to face Sauron’s forces of evil in New Line Cinema’s epic adventure, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

Taking in a regal $34.1 million on its record-breaking opening day Wednesday, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the third and final installment of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic fantasy epic, easily lorded over the competition this weekend, rightfully claiming the throne with $73.6 million* and hitting a five-day total of $125 million--the best five-day Wednesday opening of all time.

The Return of King defeats previous record holder Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace, which opened in 1999 and took a five-day total of $105.6 million, while also beating out its predecessor The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which opened the same weekend last year and managed a $102 million five-day haul. The first part of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, opened in 2001 with a five-day total of $66.1 million.

"That is amazing. The worldwide sweep of this movie is unprecedented. To have a quarter-billion-dollar gross in five days shows what a broad swath this movie cuts," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, told The Associated Press. "These would be good numbers for a film to do in its entire run, but this is just the beginning."

The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers went on to take in $861 million and $921 million respectively, leading New Line Cinema to hope The Return of the King may break the $1 billion mark. "This thing is so gigantic, we really don't know where we're going," David Tuckerman, New Line's head of domestic distribution told AP Wednesday. The only film to ever earn $1 billion was Titanic, which took $1.8 billion worldwide.

Although the rest of the top 10 box office contenders paled in comparison, another newcomer to the box office race, the Julia Roberts' starrer Mona Lisa Smile, managed to take second place with $12 million. The romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give came in third with $11.5 million, while the sword-clashing The Last Samurai dropped to fourth place with $7.3 million. The conjoined twin comedy Stuck on You rounded out the top five with $5.4 million.

Other smaller fare openers this week included the delightful Calendar Girls and the tragic House of Sand and Fog.

THE TOP TEN

New Line Cinema's glorious PG-13-rated fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King premiered at No. 1 with an ESTIMATED $73.6 million in 3,703 theaters. Its $19,876 per theater average was the highest of any film playing wide this week. Since opening on Wednesday, its five-day cume is approximately $125 million.

In the final installment to the Tolkien trilogy, the good people of Middle-earth continue their fight against the evil Sauron, while Hobbit Frodo Baggins carries on his arduous quest to destroy the Ring and rid the land of its dark forces forever.

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.

Sony Pictures' PG-13-rated drama Mona Lisa Smile opened in second place with an ESTIMATED $12 million in 2,677 theaters with a $4,483 per theater average.

The film centers on a 1950s free-spirited, novice art history professor who encourages her students at an all-female college to strive for a more enlightened futures.

Directed by Mike Newell, it stars Julia Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kirsten Dunst and Julia Stiles.

Given its mighty competition, Sony Pictures' PG-13-rated romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give last week's topper dropped to No. 3 in its second week with an ESTIMATED $11.5 million (-28%) at 2,677 theaters (unchanged; $4,296 per theater). The film, in which an older man dating a pretty twentysomething falls in love with her dynamic mother, has accumulated approximately $33.5 million to date.

Directed by Nancy Meyers, it stars Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Keanu Reeves, Amanda Peet and Frances McDormand.

Warner Bros.' R-rated period actioner The Last Samurai, fell two spots to fourth place in its third week with an ESTIMATED $7.3 million (-48%) in 2,938 theaters (+30; $2,497 per theater average). Its cume is approximately $59 million.

Directed by Edward Zwick, it stars Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Tony Goldwyn and Timothy Spall.

*Box office estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations, Inc.