HOLLYWOOD - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets kicked off atop the chart to a magical $87.7 million, off only 3 percent from last year's series $90.3 million launch for the Warner Bros. franchise. The sequel's ticket sales were running ahead of the original for both Saturday and Sunday.8 Mile was miles away in second place with $21.3 million, but heading for a profitable $130 million in domestic theaters.
The Santa Clause 2 was a jolly third with $15.1 million.
The Ring finished fourth, holding well with $11 million as its cume hit $101.6 million.
Half Past Dead opened half-dead in fifth place to $8.2 million.
Driven by Harry Potter, key films were up nearly 8 percent from last year--$168.4 million versus $156.3 million.
THE TOP TEN
Warner Bros.' PG rated sequel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets materialized in first place to a spellbinding ESTIMATED $87.69 million at 3,682 theaters ($23,816 per theater).
Harry's average per theater was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
Directed by Chris Columbus, it stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.
"We're thrilled because Saturday and Sunday exceeded the first one," Warner Bros. Distribution president Dan Fellman said Sunday morning. "We went up with the first one 4 percent on Saturday and this one went up 14 percent on Saturday. So Saturday and Sunday become the largest PG grossing days in motion picture history. We have $33.6 million for Saturday, $24.5 million (estimated) for Sunday. Friday was $29.6 million."
Fellman pointed out that, "The only day we fell behind the original Potter was Friday (when the first film did $32.3 million). Saturday and Sunday exceeded the original Potter which did $33.5 million on Saturday and $24.4 million on Sunday). So we're only 3 percent off (for the weekend). Obviously, this has exceeded our expectations and we're very pleased with it.
"The film's reviews and exit interviews even exceeded the good notices and exit polls of the first one. I'd like to congratulate the director Chris Columbus and David Heyman, who produced the movie, for delivering a wonderful film and establishing an incredible franchise for us. And of course none of this is possible without the vision and the imagination of J.K. Rowling. And I'd also like to acknowledge the great marketing department headed by Dawn Taubin and the creative talent of Jim Fredrick, who developed our campaign."
Universal and Imagine Entertainment's R rated drama 8 Mile fell one notch to second place in its second week with a less lively ESTIMATED $21.33 million (-58%) at 2,496 theaters (+26 theaters; $8,545 per theater).
8 Mile, which only cost about $41 million to produce, has a cume of approximately $86.4 million and is heading for a nicely profitable domestic theatrical gross of about $130 million.
Directed by Curtis Hanson and produced by Brian Grazer, it stars Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy and Mekhi Phifer.
Buena Vista/Disney's G rated comedy sequel Santa Clause 2 dropped one rung to third place in its third week with a still funny ESTIMATED $15.1 million (-39%) at 3,346 theaters (-6 theaters; $4,502 per theater). Its cume is approximately $82.5 million, heading for $100 million-plus.
Directed by Michael Lembeck, it stars Tim Allen.
DreamWorks' PG-13 rated horror thriller The Ring slipped one peg to fourth place in its fifth week, still holding well with an ESTIMATED $11.0 million (-29%) at 2,882 theaters (-45 theaters; $3,828 per theater). Its cume is approximately $101.6 million, heading for $125 million.
Directed by Gore Verbinski, it stars Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson and Brian Cox.