As expected, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" had a massive debut weekend at the box office. Since opening on December 17th, the final film in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy earned an estimated $125 million domestically (worldwide total is close to $247 million). "The Return of the King's" total is better than its predecessor, which opened with $101 million over its first five days. The only other new wide release, "Mona Lisa Smile," came in a very, very distant 2nd doing approximately $11.5 million in business. Read the Full Report:
Top 10 Films for the Weekend Ending 12/21/03:
1) "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" - $72,629,713 ($124,100,534 since opening on 12/17)
2) "Mona Lisa Smile" - $11,528,498
3) "Something's Gotta Give" - $11,416,793
4) "The Last Samurai" - $7,769,301
5) "Elf" - $5,502,635
6) "Stuck on You" - $5,284,023
7) "Bad Santa" - $5,102,135
8) "The Haunted Mansion" - $3,928,641
9) "Love Don't Cost a Thing" - $3,750,265
10) "Honey" - $2,708,610