'Room' dominates US box office

HOLLYWOOD, March 31 (UPI) -- Jody Foster's "Panic Room" opened with a record-setting Easter weekend debut with an estimated $30.2 million at 3,053 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

Sony's tale of divorced mother hiding from burglars easily beat the previous record set by 1999's "The Matrix," which opened at $27.8 million. It was also the best opening for Foster, topping the $20.2 million debut in 1997 for "Contact."

Sony said the film draw about 60 percent of its audience from moviegoers over 25 while male and female viewers attended in equal numbers.

20th Century Fox's cartoon "Ice Age" remained impressive in second with $18.6 million at 3,333 theaters as it topped $117 million in 17 days. It beat a solid debut of $15.8 million at 2,511 theaters from Disney's "The Rookie," starring Dennis Quaid in a real-life recap of a 35-year-old who makes it to major league baseball.

New Line's second weekend of "Blade 2" finished fourth with $13.2 million at 2,707 sites as the sequel fell a sharp 59 percent. Paramount's opening of science-fiction adventure "Clockstoppers" followed with $10.1 million at 2,540 locations.

With five films over $10 million, total box office was sharply ahead of the same weekend last year as the top 12 films took in about $114 million for a 39 percent hike.

Universal's second weekend of its revamped "E.T." finished a distant sixth with $6.1 million at 3,007 theaters. Still, the $24.2 million taken in by the new version has pulled the domestic total for "E.T." past $424 million overall.

Warner's opening of dark comedy "Death to Smoochy" came in a disappointing seventh with $4.3 million at 2,164 sites. The film, starring Robin Williams as a deranged children's TV host, received mixed reviews.

Universal's "A beautiful Mind," winner of the Academy Award for best picture, nearly matched last weekend's total with $4 million at 1,560 theaters to bring its total to $161 million in 15 weeks.

Paramount's fifth weekend of "We Were Soldiers" followed with $3.52 million at 2,046 sites and Warner's third weekend of "Showtime" with $3.5 million at 2,321 screens.

New Line's 15th weekend of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings," which won four Oscars, remained a significant presence with $2.3 million at 1,120 locations. Its total reached $301.2 million as it became only the 11th film to pass over the $300 million mark.

The weekend capped an impressive first quarter with over $2 billion in tickets sold, up 13 percent over the same period of 2001. "Panic Room" will see competition next weekend from Artisan's campus comedy "National Lampoon's Van Wilder," Fox's drama "High Crimes," starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, and Disney's comedy "Big Trouble" starring Tim Allen.