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'Two Towers' Nears $400 Million Worldwide
2002-12-29
LOS ANGELES - The "Lord of the Rings" sequel passed $200 million at the North American box office on Sunday, outpacing its hit predecessor, while Leonardo DiCaprio racked up two movies in the top five, led by his new release, "Catch Me If You Can" at No. 2.With overall business boosted by the Christmas holiday, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" was the first choice of moviegoers in its second weekend. The Hobbit sequel grossed $48.9 million for the Dec. 27-29 period, according to estimates issued by its distributor, New Line Cinema. After 12 days, the film has tallied $200.1 million. Its 2001 predecessor, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" took an extra week to break that barrier. The family fantasy is also doing stronger business overseas, and its worldwide total is estimated at between $390 million and $400 million, said Rolf Mittweg, president of worldwide marketing and distribution at the AOL Time Warner Inc.-owned studio. As of Thursday, Britain led the field with ticket sales of about $28 million, followed by Germany with $25 million. In Australia, its one-day opening on Dec. 26 broke its predecessor's all-time record by 25 percent, Mittweg said. "Catch Me If You Can," a crime caper directed by Steven Spielberg, ran off with $30 million during the weekend. Since opening on Christmas Day, it has tallied $48.6 million. The true-life tale stars DiCaprio as a teen-age con artist who scams millions of dollars while posing variously as an airline pilot, attorney and physician. Tom Hanks plays his earnest FBI pursuer. The film was released by closely held DreamWorks SKG, in which Spielberg is a partner. The audience was 56 percent female, and 70 percent over 25 years of age, said Jim Tharp, the studio's distribution president. More pleasingly, exit polls showed above average scores for all age groups, he added. DiCaprio was also represented by "Gangs of New York," which slipped one notch to No. 5 in its second weekend with $11.2 million. The total for director Martin Scorsese's 19th century epic rose to $30.1 million. The $100 million film was released by Miramax Films, a unit of Walt Disney Co. DICAPRIO SCORES TWICE The "Gangs" performance was inflated by an addition of 686 theaters, bringing its total to 2,190 sites. By contrast, "Two Towers" and "Catch Me if You Can" were each in more than 3,100 theaters. Miramax chief operating officer Rick Sands said the film was performing to plan, supported by positive word-of-mouth. With male viewers already on board, the studio will target females by emphasizing the romance between DiCaprio's and Cameron Diaz' characters. Daniel Day-Lewis' bad-guy role is polling well, and the studio will emphasize that too. Miramax had less success with "Pinocchio," a live-action adaptation of the classic story from Italian writer-director-actor Roberto Benigni. It grossed just $1.1 million from 1,195 theaters, well out of the top 10. Since opening Christmas Day, the film has earned $1.8 million. Miramax officials said they were disappointed, but expected the film to do better overseas and in home-video release. But the studio's limited-release bow of the musical "Chicago" scored some melodious numbers. The film, which stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere, earned $2.1 million from just 77 theaters. The best performing new arthouse release was "The Hours," a literary drama starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman. The Paramount Pictures release clocked in with $337,000 from 11 theaters. Women made up 60 percent of the audience, but men responded in exit surveys equally as enthusiastically, said a spokeswoman at the Viacom Inc.-owned studio. The film goes wide on Jan. 17. Paramount is partnered with Miramax on the project. Two hit romantic comedies grabbed the Nos. 3 & 4 slots, each down one position from last weekend. "Two Weeks Notice" (Warner Bros.), starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, earned $16.1 million. The Jennifer Lopez vehicle "Maid in Manhattan" (Columbia) pulled in $13 million. Earnings for "Two Weeks" rose to $43.6 million after two weekends, and "Maid" rose to $57.4 million after three weekends. Warner Bros. Pictures is also a unit of AOL Time Warner. Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp. The top 12 films grossed $157 million, according to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations -- up 18 percent from last weekend and 7 percent from the year-ago period. Reuters
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