‘Lord of the Rings’ Reigns Over the Holiday Weekend

In what appears to be an upbeat end to the motion picture industry’s top-grossing year, one blockbuster film dominated in theaters--the big-gamble “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first part of a $270-million trilogy based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three-hour action spectacular easily sold twice as many tickets as its nearest competitor, grabbing an estimated $37.3 million in its second weekend. In only 12 days the tally has reached $154 million--just in North America. At this pace, “Ring” should be chiming a $200 million-tune soon, making it the sixth U.S. release of 2001 to achieve this lofty status. According to New Line marketing head Russell Schwartz, the worldwide total should reach $300 million by Tuesday.

“Ring” was not the only good news of the holiday season. The final weekend of the year saw grosses rise about 20% from last year, with the top 12 films selling almost $148 million in ticket sales, according to the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

On Dec. 25, the $8-billion barrier was broken for the year and by midnight tonight should reach $8.35 billion, according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. Factoring inflation, ticket sales are expected to be dead even with 1998, the modern attendance high-water mark of 1.48 billion admissions.

After a heavyweight opening on Christmas Day of $10.2 million, Michael Mann’s “Ali,” starring Will Smith, has leveled off, and the first full weekend found the champ placing third, with about $15.3 million. In six days, “Ali” has packed a $35-million punch.

Another packet under the tree was the romance “Kate & Leopold,” starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, which got off to a blah start but gained some momentum over the succeeding days. The first weekend was an acceptable $9.5 million, for a six-day total of about $17 million.

Ron Howard’s biographical drama “A Beautiful Mind,” starring Russell Crowe, made a strong impression in its first expansion to 525 screens, leaping into eighth place with an estimated $7.2 million, a brainy $13,785 per theater. “Mind,” which is just at the beginning of its run (it will be on more than 2,100 screens by Friday), already has $13.2 million in the till.

All unhappy families may be different, but based on “The Royal Tenenbaums” first foray into 291 theaters over the weekend (up from 40 screens), audiences are not indifferent to this clan. Wes Anderson’s quirky comedy is appealing to a younger, upscale demographic, according to a Disney spokeswoman, and took in $5.1 million--more than $17,000 a theater--giving it a solid foundation of $8.2 million to date. “Tenenbaums” will broaden to 800 or so screens on Friday.

The highly praised “In the Bedroom,” starring Sissy Spacek, is also taking its time building an audience, climbing to 103 screens over the last week for an $825,000 haul and almost $1.9 million so far.

Robert Altman’s critically lauded comedy of manners, “Gosford Park,” played in nine theaters, with $241,000 predicted--a promising $27,000 a screen. USA Films will fan the film out to 100 screens on Friday, then 500 theaters nationally the following weekend.

Ridley Scott’s “Black Hawk Down” was a sellout in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The film scored $182,000, a lofty $45,500 per screen. “Down” widens to about 3,000 screens Jan. 18.

The intimate drama “I Am Sam,” starring Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer, reaped high performance marks and mixed reviews, earning $19,000 on two screens in L.A. and New York. Its national release is scheduled for Jan. 25.

In 186 theaters, “The Shipping News,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, earned about $2.1 million in six days. Miramax will roll the drama out slowly and try to build word of mouth before a wider launch on Jan. 18.

The prison drama “Monster’s Ball,” with Billy Bob Thornton, played on seven screens for a weekend gross of $107,000, and $150,000 since it opened Wednesday.

“Ocean’s Eleven” is fending off newer arrivals in its fourth weekend, placing second again with $17.4 million. That’s up roughly 18% from last weekend, giving Steven Soderbergh’s Rat Pack remake a total of more than $128 million.

Shortly after Christmas Day, “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” picked up some steam that carried it into a solid second weekend, during which attendance rose by 8% to approximately $15 million for a 10-day total of $42.2 million.

The Christmas break provided a big boost for the unflappable “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which grossed approximately $11.45 million in its seventh weekend, more than doubling its ticket sales. Now the year’s top-grossing film, with $286 million, “Harry” should become the first movie to cross the $300-million mark since “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace” two and a half years ago. “Harry” is doing even better abroad, with around $400 million collected so far.

“Monsters, Inc.,” the longest-running movie in the top 10, experienced an even bigger attendance spurt, 71%, contributing about $6.5 million to its $236-million take.

Tom Cruise’s drama “Vanilla Sky” is more than holding its own after three weeks, grossing an estimated $11.5 million over the weekend and $66.5 million so far.

Two more conventional star vehicles are proving to be the major disappointments of the holiday season. Jim Carrey’s ‘50s nostalgia drama, “The Majestic,” perked up a bit though its second weekend but was a still colorless $5.6 million for an underwhelming 10-day total of just under $16 million.

The Tim Allen comedy “Joe Somebody” benefited from its family-friendly nature and climbed 67% from its miserly opening weekend to a soft $5.6 million and $13.6 million so far.

Finally, the doper comedy “How High” dropped to about $5.2 million in its second weekend. But given its low production cost of about $12 million, the $17.7 million collected to date indicates that the film will be profitable.