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Hogwarts mob US BO
Rich haul for Harry Potter and Santa Claus 2
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Arthur J Pais
The Hogwarts mobbed the box-office but Santa Clause 2 held its ground reasonably well. As Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets opened with a magical $87.7 million (estimated) in three days in North America, Santa Clause 2 also had a jolly good time with a $15 million gross, proving that two big family movies can co-exist.
In its third weekend, it was down by about 40 per cent from the previous weekend.
Now the generally well reviewed, new Harry Potter has opened huge, the big question is whether it will have the stamina to zoom past the $317 million benchmark set by its predecessor, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone. Or will it stumble in the coming weeks and end up with a strong but not a jaw-dropping gross, say about $250 million? Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution of Warner Bros, was quoted in the trade publication Variety as saying the exit polls and reviews for the new movie were stronger than the original. He also said the figures for Saturday were higher for the new movie.
Worldwide, the first Harry Potter movie grossed about $960 million. In America, it opened at $90 million. From Europe, Variety reported that Harry Potter earned $15.7 in its first weekend in England, galloping past the original's record by about $300,000. In sneak previews a week ago, the movie had grossed over $12 million. It also opened to a highly promising $15.7 million in Germany.
Hollywood insiders believe much depends on how strong the fantasy adventure inspired by the JRR Tolkien saga, The Two Towers, the follow up to Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings, will perform.
Last year, Lord Of The Rings, which was nominated for a raft of top Oscars, grossed $313 million in North America. Internationally, it earned about $860 million, matching the Harry Potter movie in many countries but lagging behind substantially in Japan and England.
Some Hollywood observers are convinced that The Two Towers would do better than its predecessor. While the new Harry Potter was released by Warner Bros, The Two Towers, which opens December 18, is being released by New Line, a sister company of Warner.
Though quite a hit, 8 Mile nevertheless stumbled in the second week, losing about 60 per cent of the box-office clout. With a $21 million gross, the movie inspired by the life of rap star Eminem, has grossed a strong $86 million.
Remaining steadier than most other films on the top 10 chart, The Ring (down by about 30 per cent) mesmerized $11 million, reaching $100 million and is on its way to a potent $130 million. Continuing to display strong legs and down by just about 15 per cent, My Big Fat Greek Wedding grossed about $4.7 million, with its gross a few thousand dollars short of the historic $200 million.
Also sturdy is jackass. The surprise hit was still having great time in movie theaters. With a $4 million weekend gross, it has about $60 million, with plenty of dollars to come in the next four weeks, and even a bigger bonanza expected from video and DVD sales.
The much reviled Steven Segal movie Half Past Dead had a so-so opening with $8.2 million. Though half dead at the box-office, it nevertheless opened with bigger numbers than what most predictions had. With a $20 million potential gross from movie houses and a healthier gross from video and DVD, the film could end up with a small profit.
The figures in this story are the estimates announced by the studios on Sunday noon. While the studios have the figures for Friday and Saturday while finalising the estimates, they guess the Sunday gross, often matching it to
the Friday take. For most part, the actual figures differ one to two per cent from the estimates. Occasionally, though, the actual grosses differ substantially from the estimates. Last week, Universal had figured 8 Mile would earn $55 million but on Monday, the actual gross was announced to be a still awesome but much lower $51 million.