Jan 5, 2:06 PM EST

'Lord of the Rings' Is Box-Office King

By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "The Two Towers" has scored a triple.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" was the top film for a third weekend, taking in $25.65 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The middle chapter of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic, "The Two Towers" pushed its 19-day total to $261.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

With no big new films, box-office rankings shaped up much the same as last weekend. Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in a cat-and-mouse chase between a con man and an FBI agent, remained in second place with $21.3 million, lifting its 12-day total to $97.6 million.

Romantic comedies again held the No. 3 and 4 spots, with "Two Weeks Notice" grossing $11.6 million and "Maid in Manhattan" taking in $9 million.

In its first weekend of wide release after debuting in a handful of theaters last month, Jack Nicholson's acclaimed black comedy "About Schmidt" climbed to No. 5 with $8.75 million. Nicholson plays a retired insurance actuary reassessing his life after his wife dies.

Also expanding was the musical "Chicago," with Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere, which came in at No. 9 with $5 million.






Playing in relatively narrow release at 816 theaters, "About Schmidt" averaged a healthy $10,723, while "Chicago" averaged $16,500 in 304 theaters. "The Two Towers" averaged $7,082 in 3,622 theaters, while "Catch Me If You Can" averaged $6,719 in 3,170 theaters.

"The Two Towers" has passed "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," which came out a month earlier and has reached a total gross of $252 million.

Worldwide, "Two Towers" has hit $560 million, and distributor New Line hopes it will top $1 billion and become the No. 2 film behind "Titanic," which climbed to $1.8 billion.

"Two Towers" picks up where "Fellowship of the Ring" left off and leaves viewers hanging, awaiting the conclusion next December with "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

"This is a movie without a beginning and an end. It's not a sequel but a continuation of a story," said David Tuckerman, New Line head of distribution.

Several films that opened over the holidays to qualify for the Academy Awards continued to do well in limited release. "The Hours," starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore, grossed $326,000 in 11 theaters for a $29,636 average.

Spike Lee's "The 25th Hour," starring Edward Norton as a drug dealer on his last day of freedom before going to prison, earned $131,000 at five theaters to average $26,281.

George Clooney's directing debut, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," with Sam Rockwell as game-show host Chuck Barris in a fictionalized thriller, took in $91,789 at four theaters for a $22,947 average.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," $25.65 million.

2. "Catch Me If You Can," $21.3 million.

3. "Two Weeks Notice," $11.6 million.

4. "Maid in Manhattan," $9 million.

5. "About Schmidt," $8.75 million.

6. "Gangs of New York," $7.4 million.

7. "Drumline," $5.6 million.

8. "The Wild Thornberrys Movie," $5.5 million.

9. "Chicago," $5 million.

10. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," $4.5 million

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Half a billion dollars worldwide for LOTR after 19 days? Ye gods. I knew I shoulda been a movie studio head.

Son-of-a... Jeeze, this guy just knows how to spoil it, doesn't he? I have seen About Schmit, and it may happen in the begining. This was never addressed in the trailer. I have the feeling that it was supposed to be a little surprise...

I'm glad to see that Harry Potter is almost gone until later this year. I never understood why the series is doing so good. Chris Columbus has always been a lazy filmmaker in my book. I gave him a chance with the films, but they just seem very thrown together and lazy.

I don't get how people can enjoy these films so much. They're rather dark for the kids. And often too goofy for adults. And, in my opinion, too 'lazy' for film buffs. It wouldn't be so bad if it did $110 million or so; with all of the buzz. But topping $200 million is beyond me.

Anyhoo, good thing that Chris Columbus is GONE, and Alfonso Cuarón is HERE!

It will come to Japan around March this year and those figures are gonna skyrocket again

I'm surprised Chicago didn't do better (I know, $16,500 is alot of money), but my showing was sold out and when I came out, there was a line from the front of the door to the back in the lobby.

Well, it's really not showing in that many cities yet, so that might be part of it. It's only on about 300 or so screens right now i think and hasn't opened nation-wide yet.

And troystiffler, are you sure that fact about About Schmidt wasn't in a trailer? Because I knew that was the storyline of the movie and I haven't read anything about it, only seen the trailer.

None of the trailers I've seen of "About Schmidt" disclose that development in the film. But I've only seen the theatrical trailer, and the short one they play on TV.

I am glad Chicago is doing good and opening wider.
I saw it today and the theatre was packed.


Did anyone else see the preview to the new Sandler/Nicholson movie.
Looked horrible.

LOTR:The Two Towers is really going strong


I will be seeing this one last time this friday so I guess I will help it get to that 1 billion dollar mark.

I thought it looked great. Has a lot of potential if you ask me. Got lots of laughs when it showed before Chicago when I saw it.

Color me unimpressed. When you charge 10+ bucks to get into a movie these days, of course it's going to hit big numbers. If you go by box office totals adjusted for inflation, Rings is still at the botom of the pile - it's not even in the top 50 yet.

But at a running time of 3 hours, there are a lot less showings compared to your average film. So those numbers are very impressive.

wait ... don't tell me you didn't like the movie .....

I am glad that CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is doing some great business.... it had a healty % drop and looks on track to make some good long term money... and will easily outgross the Spielberg Cruise team up Minority Report. I like it when good movies succeed, so go CATCH ME go... make more $$...

MATT

I don't understand WTF is wrong with those Japanese distributors. If they got these LOTR films into their cinemas in a timely manner, they would make more money and so would the studio.

Well, yeah your right - but in this circumstance, my feelings don't matter into it. I'm also underwhelmed by how much Titanic made, Attack of the Clones, etc, etc. Big deal - I mean if I charged half a million bucks a ticket, I'd break every single record in Hollywood history if I filled just one multiplex.

No - it's how many asses wind up in the seats that counts.

I am also (pleasantly) surprised that "Catch Me If You Can" is doing well despite LOTR:TTT. I liked TTT but I have to admit that I can't go for repeated viewing because of the 3-hour runtime. I'll wait for DVD. But CMIYC is worth another viewing. And I'll be definitely getting the DVD for that. We'll see how CMIYC holds up in its third week.

Let me give you two reasons why The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers won't come out until a few months from now.

First, there's the translation issue. The Japanese DO dub foreign films, and it will take time for them to completely dub this movie.

Secondly, I believe March is the period when Japanese schools below the college level switch to a new school year. Why not take advantage of this period when there is a short break from school to capture the middle to high school crowd to this movie? The novel is very popular in Japan (thanks to a Japanese-language edition that came out in 1975) and a lot of folks in Japan want to see this movie. However, in deference to the large number of foreigners who live in the Tokyo and Osaka areas I also expect there will be some screens there showing an edition with the original English-language soundtrack but with Japanese-language subtitles.

How much does that come out per day in it's box office earning?That's a lot of money for one movie!

Ok, mabye youre not impressed by the numbers but they are VERY big. Sure, there's inflation, but keep in mind the market. Two Towers is doing incredible business, and in the end will be one of the biggest money makers ever with inflation. And as for Titanic, whether you like that movie or not, more people saw that movie in its theatrical run than even Gone With the Wind as far as I know. It made 1.8 billion dollars in 1997, which with non inflated numbers is still double the amount the number two movie made (which is in the mid 900 million range). Titanic is no lightweight and is by all means was seen by everybody and their brother twice over. Not to mention that the film going environment was FAR different back in 1939 so something like Gone with the Wind was not facing the type of steep competition that movies today did. In fact, it stayed in theaters forever and even was able to use the advent of color as a selling point. Not to mention no competition with video and other forms of media.

Those grosses are nothing to sneeze at. Every movie has the same ticket prices and considering the growing market saturation of movies, its even harder today to bring in those viewers, especially since viewership is not growing with population. Maybe you don't like the movie, but quite frankly the LOTR movies are quite the worldwide film phenomenom, there's no doubting that.

There will be an early screening at Tokyo areas for an all night but I think it will be around 1 week before the grand opening.Right now Harry Potter is the king of the box office here.
I am sure the subtitles version and also dubbed version will be out the same time,so the subtitles and the dubbed version are taking the time for the 2 months release.Even Die Another day has not opened yet in Japan .