'Two Towers' tops U.S. box office

HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The third weekend of "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" led the nation's box office with an estimated $25.7 million at 3,622 theaters during the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday.

New Line's sequel to last year's "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" won for the third straight weekend and has now taken in $261.7 million in its first 19 days. "The Two Towers" is now 18th on the all-time domestic list and $51.6 million away from matching the total gross for "Fellowship of the Rings."

The weekend represented a 47 percent decline for "The Two Towers" from the Dec. 27-29 period. "The third weekend for 'The Two Towers' showed very respectable numbers," said movie industry analyst Arthur Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management. "It's really no surprise. Just like the first film, 'The Two Towers' has become a money machine for New Line."

DreamWorks' second weekend of "Catch Me If You Can," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, finished a close second with $21.7 million at 3,170 theaters to lift its 12-day total to $97.6 million. "That's a solid performance, which shows the drawing power of the stars," Rockwell said.

A pair of holdover romantic comedies took the next two slots with Warner Bros.' third weekend of "Two Weeks Notice" grossing $11.6 million at 2,755 theaters, followed by Sony's fourth weekend of "Maid in Manhattan" with $9 million at 3,050 sites. "Maid" has taken in $76.7 million and has replaced "The Cell" as Jennifer Lopez's top grossing film.

Overall business was solid but not spectacular with the top 10 taking in $104.4 million, or $6 million more than the same weekend of 2002 when "Fellowship of the Rings" led with $23 million.

Studios did not open any major new films but instead used the weekend to widen the limited releases of their awards contenders. New Line's comedy-drama "About Schmidt," starring Jack Nicholson, finished fifth with an impressive $8.8 million at 816 theaters, up from 34 locations during the previous weekend.

"It looks as if Nicholson remains a pretty decent draw," Rockwell said.

Miramax's third weekend of "Gangs of New York" followed in sixth with $7.4 million at 2,305 sites with a 32 percent decline from the second weekend. The performance of "Gangs," which was delayed from release for a year, has been respectable with $47.2 million in 17 days with the studio hoping for more of the same during the awards season.

20th Century Fox's fourth weekend of "Drumline" finished seventh with $5.6 million at 1,653 sites, edging Paramount's third weekend of "The Wild Thornberrys" with $5.5 million at 2,881 locations. "Drumline" has exceeded expectations with nearly $48 million in total grosses.

Miramax's second weekend of "Chicago" generated impressive returns in ninth with $5 million at 304 theaters as the studio added 227 sites. The musical, a leading Oscar contender, posted a per-theater average of $16,513 for the highest per-theater average in the top 10.

Warner's eighth weekend of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" rounded out the top 10 with $4.5 million at 2,015 theaters to lift its 52-day total to $252 million, placing it 21st on the all-time list and $66 million behind "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Disney's fourth weekend of "The Hot Chick" came in 11th with $3.6 million at 2,160 sites, followed by MGM's seventh weekend of "Die Another Day" with $3 million at 1,808 screens and Paramount's fourth weekend of "Star Trek: Nemesis" with $2.2 million at 2,423 locations. "Day" has hit $153.8 million, but "Nemesis" has been a disappointment with only $39.4 million.

Notable limited releases of award contenders included Paramount's "The Hours" with $326,000 at 11 theaters, Miramax's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" with $91,789 at four theaters, Focus Features' "The Pianist" with $747,129 at 90 theaters, United Artists' "Nicholas Nickleby" with $147,000 at 32 sites and Fox Searchlight's "Antwone Fisher" with $1.5 million at 192 screens.

Many of the limited release films will expand in coming weeks. Additionally, Fox is opening romantic comedy "Just Married" in wide release next weekend.