The King returns to BO!

With hardly any opposition, The Return Of The King soared to the top of the box-office across North America earning an imperial $125 million in just five days.

One of the best reviewed films of the year and the third and final film in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, ROTK opened on Tuesday night in many cities. In its first weekend, it grossed $73.5 million, more than the combined gross of the next 15 films on the chart, including Julia Roberts' Mona Lisa Smile, and the fast fading The Last Samurai.

Though the sentimental feminine drama Mona Lisa Smile opened at second place, it did so with barely a grin, collecting just about $12 million. It will take a small miracle for it to recoup its $65 million cost. The market will be fiercely competitive next week with the arrival of such films as the Civil War drama Cold Mountain, and Cheaper By The Dozen, a Steve Martin comedy.

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The Julia Roberts film about an idealistic feminist professor in the 1950s was expected to gross at least $20 million, mainly from women who, it was presumed, might not have cared much for the special effects laden ROTK.

The $125 million gross for ROTK is even more significant, considering it runs for more than three hours, unlike most Hollywood that are just about two hours long. The length of ROTK effectively reduces the number of shows in a day. The worldwide five-day gross for ROTK is about $250 million, and that means the movie has already recouped its $100 million cost.

The worldwide gross is even more impressive, considering the film is yet to open in many countries, particularly Japan, which is the biggest market for American and British films. Fantasy films do roaring business in Japan, and ROTK is expected to gross $100 million there.

Holding on to the third position on the chart in North America, Something's Gotta Give, an unusual romantic drama in which a seemingly confirmed playboy in his 60s falls for the mother of a young girl he has been chasing, grossed about $11.5 million, down by about 28 per cent from the previous week. The Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton starring comedy could outlive many films that opened with a bigger bang, but began to exit in a hurry.

It was followed by The Last Samurai, which by now has joined half a dozen big budget films of the year in turning up a respectable but not exciting box-office. The movie, most of which is set in Japan, places an American soldier (Tom Cruise) disillusioned by what he witnessed during the American Civil War, amidst a civil war in Japan. Though it may have a hard time in reaching the $100 million mark in North America, it could be a bigger success abroad.  It is already shaping into a big hit in Japan where it has grossed about $27 million in ten days.

While the one-joke comedy Stuck On You is finding the box-office slippery, the brilliantly executed comedy Elf is spreading the Christmas cheer. With sixth place on the chart, and just about a 17 per cent decline from the previous week, the movie is a certified hit. It is one of the biggest hits for New Line that also produced the Rings trilogy.

The unlikely holiday season hit Bad Santa, the medium budget black comedy in which Santa is anything but an endearing figure, looted $4.2 million, and was the seventh highest grossing film of the week.

It was followed by Eddie Murphy's The Haunted Mansion. The last two films on the chart, Love Don't Cost A Thing and Honey are low-budget teenage flicks. Of the two, Honey is certainly doing better and is dancing towards the $30 million mark.

The box office this week: