Morning Report - News from Dec. 27, 2001

MOVIES

‘Ali,’ ‘Rings’ Propel Year-End Box Office

Now that the first wave of holiday festivities is behind us, one of the biggest moviegoing weeks of the year has begun. And, based on Tuesday’s twin record-breakers, it should be a strong one.

Michael Mann’s $100-million-plus biopic “Ali,” starring Will Smith in the title role, scored the biggest-ever Christmas Day opening figure, grossing an estimated $10.2 million in 2,446 theaters, according to Sony Pictures distribution head Jeff Blake. That gives the film a fighting chance of taking in at least $50 million by the end of the coming weekend.

“Ali,” however, was surpassed by “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” which now holds the record for box-office take on a Christmas Day. The three-hour epic grossed about $11.6 million in 3,359 theaters and more than 5,700 individual screens, beating the $11 million taken in by “Cast Away” last year. Its first-week total comes to approximately $96 million--and it should surpass $100 million today.

The third-highest-grossing film Tuesday was “Ocean’s Eleven.” With a little less than $5 million, the all-star heist film crossed the $100-million mark.

MUSIC

L.A. Phil Broadcasts Back After 3-Year Hiatus

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, which has been absent from the radio for three years, will return Jan. 6 for a 13-week series of concerts broadcast on 156 stations nationwide. Locally, it will be heard at noon on KUSC-FM (91.5).

During each intermission, there will be a feature highlighting the arts in Los Angeles, ranging from a survey of local murals to a Kevin Starr discussion of the city as an emerging global commercial and cultural center.

THE ARTS

Prince Charles Puts on His Critic’s Hat Again

Prince Charles ruffled feathers earlier this month when he called skyscrapers “overblown phallic structures that say more about an architectural ego than any kind of craftsmanship.” For a follow-up, the prince just announced, he’ll be handing out “anti-awards”--pointing fingers at what he sees as the five worst new buildings.

Not surprising from someone with such a patent dislike of the “modern” and no interest in “going forward,” said architect Piers Gough. And the truly bad buildings will be overlooked in favor of those with a higher profile, he suggested.

“They won’t give it to some terrible Travelodge: They’ll give it to the Greater London Authority building to annoy people,” Gough told the London newspaper the Observer.

No matter, said Michael Manser, former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Prince Charles “is so palpably over the top, it’s funny,” he said. “The more engaged he gets, the more out of touch he will appear.”

QUICK TAKES

AIDS activist, author and playwright (“The Normal Heart,” “The Destiny of Me”) Larry Kramer, 66, was upgraded to fair condition Wednesday, five days after undergoing 12 hours of liver transplant surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which has had success with transplants on HIV-positive patients.... Actress Frances Fisher was treated for burns on her hands after a Christmas morning house fire in Vancouver, Canada. Francesca Eastwood, Fisher’s 8-year-old daughter from her marriage to Clint Eastwood, escaped by climbing onto the roof and jumping into the arms of a neighbor, according to NBC4.