'Rings; dominates US box office

HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring" easily won the nation's pre-Christmas weekend box office with $45.3 million at 3,359 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

The performance of New Line's much anticipated epic, based on the complex J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy and directed by Peter Jackson, was about in line with expectations after "Rings" grossed $27.8 million in its first two days on Wednesday and Thursday. The strong opening, marking the best December debut of all time, indicates that second and third installments of "Rings" are also like to become major successes when they open in late 2002 and 2003.

New Line' has spent an estimated $270 million on the trilogy, filmed in New Zealand.

Industry analyst Arthur Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management said, "'Lord of the Rings' has clearly managed to show a lot of strength among young adults and teens but there's obviously been a lot of cross-over too."

Rockwell also credited New Line with solid work in selling an offbeat concept as a mainstream film. "The solid marketing, mostly positive reviews and a pent-up demand fed by buzz on the Internet were key factors in the strong numbers," he added. "I think that "Rings" should dominate the rest of 2001."

Finishing a distant but impressive second was Warner Bros.' third weekend of "Ocean's Eleven" with $14.6 million at 3,075 theaters. "Eleven" had set the record for best December opening with $38.1 million two weekends ago.

"The legs on 'Ocean's Eleven have been a little surprising and show how valuable star power can be for the right vehicle," Rockwell said.

Paramount's opening of "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" came in a close third with $14 million at 3,139 locations as the big-screen version of the Nickelodeon cartoon gave children and family audiences an alternative to long-running hits "Monsters Inc." and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The studio said it was pleased with the results and noted the film's low budget ensures it will be solidly profitable.

Paramount's second weekend of "Vanilla Sky" followed in fourth with $12.1 million at 2,744 sites with a 52 percent decline. "Sky," which is being touted for possible Academy Award consideration, has topped $45 million in 10 days.

"It's still a decent performance for what's essentially an art-house movie," Rockwell said.

Universal's opening of hip-hop comedy "How High," a goofy tale of rap stars going to Harvard, turned in a respectable performance in fifth with $7.6 million at 1,266 theaters. "The movie hit its target audience pretty well," Rockwell added.

Finishing a still-impressive sixth was the sixth weekend of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" with $6.2 million at 3,311 theaters. The mega-hit lost 37percent of its fifth-weekend total and has grossed $263.2 million in 38 days, making it the 14th highest domestic performer of all time ahead of "Jaws" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Sony's second weekend of "Not Another Teen Movie" took a hit from "Lord of the Rings," plunging from third to seventh with $5.5 million at 2,365 theaters and losing 56 percent of its opening weekend audience. But it still managed to easily outgross a pair of disappointing openers -- Warner's romance-drama "The Majestic," starring Jim Carrey, with $5 million at 2,361 sites and 20th Century Fox's "Joe Somebody," a family comedy starring Tim Allen, with $3.7 million at 2,503 locations.

Both new films rolled out amid mostly negative reviews. "People could sense that these two films didn't have much too offer even before they opened," Rockwell noted.

Rounding out the top 10 was Disney's eighth weekend of "Monsters Inc." with a still-solid $3.5 million at 2,097 theaters. "Monsters" has now taken in $224.2 million and is 27th place on the all-time list ahead of "Mrs. Doubtfire."

Fox's Fourth weekend of "Behind Enemy Lines" finished 11th with $3.3 million at 1,798 sites, followed by a massive launch for Disney's offbeat comedy "The Royal Tennenbaums" with $1.2 million at just 40 theaters.

Universal's opening of its Oscar contended "A Beautiful Mind" also posted impressive figures with $365,000 at 11 theaters.

With the top four films taking in around $86 million, overall business was solid with the top 10 grossing around $118 million. Year-to-date business is past $7.6 billion, up 9 percent over last year at this point, and "Lord of the Rings" is expected to generate continued strong business.

Three major openings are set for Christmas Day on Tuesday -- Sony's much-anticipated "Ali," Miramax's drama "The Shipping News" and Miramax's time-travel project "Kate and Leopold," which was moved back from this weekend to avoid going up against the opening of "Lord of the Rings."