'Potter' dominates US box office

HOLLYWOOD, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The second weekend of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" continued breaking the nation's box office records with an estimated $58.6 million at 3,672 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

Warner Bros.' mega-hit about a young English wizard topped the previous three-day Thanksgiving holiday record of $57.4 million, set in 1999 by "Toy Story 2." "Harry" also took in $83.6 million during the five days from Wednesday through Sunday to beat the "Toy Story 2" record by over $3 million.

Analyst Arthur Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management said the performance was in line with expectations after "Harry" topped $90 million in its opening Friday-Sunday weekend.

"The numbers are obviously no surprise because of the must-see factor that has been created for this film," he added. "Warner Bros. has clearly hit a home run with 'Harry Potter.'"

The 10-day total leaves "Harry" in line to match 13-day record set two years ago by "Star Wars Episode 1 -- Phantom Menace" as the fastest movie to hit the $200 million mark.

"Harry," already the 41st highest domestic grosser of all time by surpassing "Gladiator," looks likely to take in well over $300 million by the end of the year. If it can top $400 million, it will be only the fourth film to do so after "Titanic," "Star Wars" and "Phantom Menace."

Finishing an impressive second was Disney's fourth weekend of "Monsters Inc." with $24.5 million at 3,649 theaters as the computer-animated comedy achieved the rare feat of improving on its previous weekend total, gaining nearly $2 million. "Monsters" has now grossed $192.8 million over its first 24 days and looks likely to be a potent draw for several more weeks.

Universal's opening of "Spy Game" also performed at the top of expectations with $21.6 million at 2,761 theaters, giving the Robert Redford-Brad Pitt thriller $30.5 million in its first five days.

"It's impressive to see a one-two punch at the box office with 'Harry Potter' and 'Monsters' plus what looks like a hit with 'Spy Game,'" Rockwell said. "'Spy Game' did pretty well considering that its major demographic is older males."

20th Century Fox's time-travel comedy "Black Knight" posted moderate numbers in fourth with $11.7 million at 2,570 theaters, giving the Martin Lawrence picture $16.1 million in its first five days.

"'Black Knight' hit its target audience but it didn't do a lot of crossover business," Rockwell said. "I don't think the expectations were that high since the top three films are performing so well."

Fox's third weekend of "Shallow Hal" followed in fifth with a solid $9 million at 2,643 sites to go past $55 million in 24 days. But Disney's opening of snowboarder comedy "Out Cold" generated little box office heat in sixth with $4.7 million at 2,011 locations to give it $6.8 million in its first five days.

Paramount's fourth weekend of "Domestic Disturbance" came in seventh with $4.2 million at 2,386 theaters to reach $40 million overall. Warner's third weekend of "Heist," continued to post lukewarm numbers in eighth with $3.3 million at 1,711 sites.

Rounding out the top 10 were Sony's fourth weekend of "The One" with $2.2 million at 1,727 theaters and New Line's fifth weekend of "Life As a House" with $2.1 million at 1,119 locations. Miramax's fourth weekend of French hit "Amelie" continued to perform well and finished 11th with $1.9 million at 217 screens, followed by Universal's fifth weekend of "K-Pax" with $1.8 million at 1,256 sites.

Paramount Classics reported solid business for the opening of romantic comedy "Sidewalks of New York" with $713,000 at 99 theaters in the Wednesday-Sunday period.

With "Harry," "Monsters" and "Spy Game" combining for nearly $105 million, overall business was impressive as the top 10 grossed about $142 million. Still, that was well behind the impressive $162 million total a year ago when the second weekend of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" led with $52.1 million.

Year-to-date receipts have topped $7 billion, up 10 percent from the same time a year ago. Prospects look decent for the upcoming weekend with strong holdover performance and two new entries -- Miramax's Western drama "Texas Rangers" and Fox's contemporary war drama "Behind Enemy Lines."