By Nicole Sperling LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Expect deja vu all over again at the box office this New Year's weekend. No new wide releases are out to challenge the status quo, so New Line Cinema's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," is fated to remain the most popular attraction.
Last weekend, the epic conclusion of the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy trilogy suffered a drop of just 30% from its mammoth opening round. This time, "King" could fall 50% and still dominate the field with a $25 million tally.
Other holdovers, including 20th Century Fox's family comedy "Cheaper by the Dozen" and Miramax Films' literary adaptation "Cold Mountain," also should perform well during the second weekend of the holiday season.
The Peter Jackson (news)-helmed "King" has generated more than $220 million at the domestic box office since its Dec. 17 bow. After becoming the second-fastest film to cross the $200 million mark -- behind only "Spider-Man" -- "King" could well exceed the $340 million racked up by its 2002 predecessor, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."
Steve Martin (news) proved his box-office power during the holiday frame, drawing crowds of all ages to the remake of "Cheaper." The film handily outgrossed Universal Pictures' "Peter Pan," which failed to lure a sizable slice of young audiences looking for a re-creation of the classic children's story. "Cheaper" likely will experience a big drop in its sophomore frame, but considering that it grossed $27.6 million its first weekend -- and has collected more than $42 million to date -- the $40 million production is well on its way to profitability.
Fresh off its $14.6 million opening, Oscar hopeful "Cold Mountain" is likely to hold well for its second session, relying on critical acclaim and strong word-of-mouth to propel the movie until it added 600 screens for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend (Jan. 16-19).
Disney's "Calendar Girls" expanded on New Year's Day. The film -- based on the true story of a group of women in Yorkshire, England, who bare it all to raise money for leukemia research -- has generated $750,000 after 10 days of release in more than 40 theaters. After enjoying a $9,441 per-theater average in its second weekend, the PG-13 British comedy will expand to more than 740 runs, hoping to capitalize on the recent Golden Globe nomination for actress Helen Mirren (news)'s lead performance. Industry sources expect the film to earn about $3 million-$4 million for the weekend, which would be a significant feat considering that DreamWorks' "House of Sand and Fog" opened to a similar number of runs only to pull in $1.7 million for the past frame. But the much lighter fare of "Calendar" should have no problem drawing larger crowds than the heavy drama of "Sand and Fog."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Angela
"We are all books of blood,
wherever opened we are red"
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