Box office receipts for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
fell from the stratosphere in the movie’s third weekend, totaling
just $24.1 million, 58 percent less than what it took in a week ago,
according to studio estimates.
Nevertheless, it remained in first place,
well ahead of Behind Enemy Lines, which took in $19.2 million,
despite some analysts’ predictions that it could dislodge Harry.
The weekend receipts brought Harry‘s total sales to $220.1
million after 17 days. Another film crossing the $200-million mark was
Pixar/Disney’s Monsters, Inc., which earned $9.4 million (a
61-percent drop from last week), to bring its total to $204.3 million.
It reached the $200-million mark on Saturday, 30 days after it was
released, thereby beating Disney’s The Lion King as the fastest
animated film to hit that milestone (33 days).
If weekend
estimates hold, total ticket sales for the month will have set a record
of $799.7 million, up 8 percent from the previous record of $737.2
million, set during November of last year.
