Merry (Dominic Monaghan), Frodo (Elijah Wood), Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Sam (Sean Astin) in "Lord of the Rings" |
HOLLYWOOD - Moviegoers aren't bored of the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring yet. They spent another $16.2 million on Rings tickets, many of them for repeat viewings, keeping it in first place for a fourth consecutive weekend.Also driving the box office were good expansions for A Beautiful Mind and The Royal Tenenbaums, a tasty Orange County opening and solid holdover business for Ocean's Eleven.
Key films -- those grossing at least $500,000 -- took in about $103.5 million, a solid total for the second weekend of the New Year. Comparisons to last year aren't valid since the comparable 2001 weekend was the four-day Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, which fell a week earlier than it does this year.
THE TOP TEN
New Line Cinema's PG-13 rated epic The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring held on to first place for a fourth consecutive week with a still impressive ESTIMATED $16.15 million (-30%) at 3,381 theaters (theater count unchanged; $4,777 per theater). Its cume is approximately $228.3 million, heading for $300 million in domestic theaters.
Directed by Peter Jackson, Rings' ensemble cast is led by Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen.
Noting that Rings is heading for $300 million domestically, New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said Sunday morning, "It could do more. I think the (Academy) Awards are going to determine where this finally settles itself in. A lot of nominations will help and if we win anything it'll help. I think that will determine where this picture ultimately shows up. The Globes are going to help us, also. The Globes will give us a bump, if it happens."