By the Numbers

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” on Monday reclaimed the box office crown in its fourth weekend, after Sony’s estimates for “Big Fish” proved a little too far upstream. Sony’s projections for “Big Fish” on Sunday were about $400,000 ahead of New Line estimates for “Return of the King,” and that position was more or less reversed when more complete numbers were reported Monday. It’s not uncommon for films to shift position in the chart from Sunday to Monday, but it’s extremely rare that a movie thought to be No. 1 on Sunday has to relinquish the top spot come Monday morning.

Even so, “Big Fish” performed very well in its expansion from 125 theaters to 2,406, averaging a respectable $5,740 per theater in 1,126 fewer locations than “Return of the King.”

Among films in limited release, “Monster” posted a solid per-theater average of $10,293 as Newmarket Films expanded to 82 theaters from 14, grossing $844,012. The film, which stars Charlize Theron as serial killer Aileen Wuornos, has grossed $1.4 million to date.

-- R. Kinsey Lowe

*--* MOVIE 3-DAY GROSS TOTAL (MILL.) VENUES AVGVENUE WEEKS

1 The Lord of $14.2 $312.3 3,532 $4,023 4 the Rings: The Return of the King (New Line)

2 Big Fish $13.8 $23.4 2,406 $5,740 5 (Sony)

3 Cheaper by $11.8 $101.1 3,238 $3,629 3 the Dozen (Fox)

4 Cold Mountain $7.9 $55.3 2,302 $3,424 3 (Miramax)

5 Something’s $7.7 $92.5 2,876 $2,687 5 Gotta Give (Sony)

6 My Baby’s $7.5 $7.5 1,447 $5,217 1 Daddy (Miramax)

7 Chasing $6.1 $6.1 2,400 $2,534 1 Liberty (Warner Bros.)

8 Paycheck $5.1 $46.4 2,762 $1,863 3 (Paramount)

9 The Last $4.6 $97.2 1,901 $2,394 6 Samurai (Warner Bros.)

10 Mona Lisa $4.4 $56.9 2,500 $1,753 4 Smile (Sony/Revolutio n)

*--*

Source: Nielsen EDI Inc.