The Return of the King Reigns a Third Straight Week

[MickeyMousePal]

In a weekend with no major new releases, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ruled the box office a third straight time adding an estimated $30.8 million from 3,703 theaters. The third installment in Peter Jackson's trilogy has made an astounding $292 million in just 19 days and is threatening to take over the record for fastest to the $300 million mark, set by Spider-Man in 22 days. "The Return of the King" has moved up to the 18th spot on the all-time domestic blockbuster list and is now the third-biggest film of 2003 (behind "Pirates of the Caribbean" and " Nemo"). The New Line film has now earned $677 million worldwide.

Way to go Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King will top Nemo.

[MickeyMousePal]

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the bomb.

Go watch it.

[Swiss]

Yes, King reigns supreme! I thoroughly enjoyed ROTK. I am looking forward to it's May 2004 DVD Release.

[Bill W]

Yes, King reigns supreme! I thoroughly enjoyed ROTK. I am looking forward to it's May 2004 DVD Release.

May 2004?! Cool!! How come its coming out in May and not October like the last one?

[Swiss]

May 2004?! Cool!! How come its coming out in May and not October like the last one?

Actually, The Rings Theatrical DVD's have hit the August following the cinemas, and the Extended Edition that November. However according to sources, this schedule has been changed to May/Aug-Nov. I assume mainly because Jackson can concentrate on the extended cut without having to split time between the next installment.

We've heard from additional retail sources that New Line is telling them to expect the 2-disc The Return of the King theatrical version on DVD on May 25th, and the 4-disc extended version in the August-November timeframe.

[Jake Lipson]

Well, first, there has NEVER been a Lord of the Rings DVD release in October. And as for why ROTK cometh earlier, well, let's use some brain power, shall we, and think like a studio exec for a minute.

Fellowship and Towers came in August (theatrical cut) and November (extended edition.) The only reason it was held out until August -- which is an 8-month theater-to-video window, double the current norm of 4 months -- was so that the DVD release could get the franchise back on people's minds and highten anticipation for the next movie.

But wait -- hold the phone, stop the presses -- Lord of the Rings happens to be a trilogy. And there ain't another movie to stir up intrest for. So why do they need to hold it out to August?

Easy They don't. They have nothing to gain from waiting out till then.

So's the theatrcal cut cometh in May or so and the extended is still on track for November as far as I know.

[Swiss]

We both posted at the same exact minute. Oh well.

[Jack]

In addition to Jake's comments, Mr. Jackson will probably want to get the work on the ROTK:EE out of the way & release it early, so that it won't overlap into his work for King Kong later this year.

[MickeyMousePal]

I hope Mr. Jackson will make The Hobbit the prequel of Lord of the Rings.

[Loomis]

I hope Mr. Jackson will make The Hobbit the prequel of Lord of the Rings.

I was thinking the same thing, and there was a rumour that he was interested in doing it...

But I can't imagine anyone but Ian Holm playing Bilbo now - and will they be able to make him sufficiently younger for the part? I suppose they did it in the prologue to FOTR...

[MickeyMousePal]

'Adzmullz1' alerted us that Sir Ian McKellen is up for playing Gandalf again in The Hobbit, once the rights issues are cleared up.

Sir Ian McKellen appeared on Channel 4 talk show 'Richard and Judy' this afternoon and was asked about the latest situation on 'The Hobbit'.

He said, "There is currently a situation where two companies own the rights, but when that's sorted out Peter (Jackson) and I will sit and talk it over. We've mentioned it recently and Peter is looking forward to getting it into production".

McKellen also went on to mention that he looks foward to playing Gandalf the Grey again, as he sees Gandalf the White as a "stick in the mud".

Director Peter Jackson will be busy with King Kong for quite a while, but after that anything's possible.

I guess The Hobbit and King Kong will be made by Mr. Jackson.

[Loomis]

That for the info, MMP.
That sounds really promising. It would be really great to see PJ direct the Hobbit, as he is pretty much THE guy to do it. They already have an established crew and partial cast, so once the rights clear up, it would be ideal.

Now for the Silmarillion...

[2099net]

I hope Mr. Jackson will make The Hobbit the prequel of Lord of the Rings.

I was thinking the same thing, and there was a rumour that he was interested in doing it...

But I can't imagine anyone but Ian Holm playing Bilbo now - and will they be able to make him sufficiently younger for the part? I suppose they did it in the prologue to FOTR...

Ian Holm also played Bilbo in the BBC Radio adaptation of The Hobbit long before the Lord of the Rings films were made.

[Loomis]

I was thinking the same thing, and there was a rumour that he was interested in doing it...

But I can't imagine anyone but Ian Holm playing Bilbo now - and will they be able to make him sufficiently younger for the part? I suppose they did it in the prologue to FOTR...

Ian Holm also played Bilbo in the BBC Radio adaptation of The Hobbit long before the Lord of the Rings films were made.

He also play Frodo in the BBC radio adaptation. I was listening to them last night (some of anyways)

As I said, can't imagine it without him...

[Rebel]

Now for the Silmarillion...

That would be a rather long movie unless they either 1) left a lot out or 2) broke it up into multiple movies.

[Paka]

Well, I'm absolutely sure that the Hobbit's film rights dispute between New Line and United Artists will be resolved by the time Jackson's done with King Kong. In addition, I'm sure that Jackson, McKellen (he's all but busting out of the gate to do Gandalf again), Serkis, and Weaving will come back for it. But not Ian Holm - he's simply too old. He was originally hired to depict an old Bilbo, and that's what he did. In fact, in the prologue scene in Gollum's cave, Holm's saggy face had to be taped back in order to make him look somewhat younger.
So I'm pretty sure that they'll hire a new actor to play the young Bilbo. Probably an Aussie that looks somewhat like Holm to make it credible.

*sigh* 3 years, ideally... I can wait 3 years. O_O

[Disney Guru]

Ya-Hoo Finding Nemo Is Zooming Up Into High Sales. Ya-Hoo.

[Loomis]

Now for the Silmarillion...

That would be a rather long movie unless they either 1) left a lot out or 2) broke it up into multiple movies.

Yes. Yes I know. Hence the

[MickeyMousePal]

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King second place.

Director Tim Burton's Big Fish, starring Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney, expanded into 2,406 theaters and took over the top box office spot with an estimated $14.5 million. The Columbia Pictures feature has earned $24.1 million in five weeks.

After reigning for three straight weeks, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King dropped to second place adding $14.1 to push its massive total to $312.2 million after four weeks. The last installment in the New Line trilogy crossed the $300 million mark on Friday, its 24th day in theaters, which is the second-best to do so ever, trailing only Spider-Man which did so in 22 days. "The Return of the King" is now the second-biggest film released in 2003, surpassing Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ( $305.4 million) and sitting behind Finding Nemo ($339.7 million). It has moved up to 13th on the all-time domestic blockbuster list (right behind "The Fellowship of the Ring"'s $314.8 million).

The third spot belonged to the Steve Martin comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, which made another $12 million in its third week to bring its total to $101.4 million.

The Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give held on at number four with $8.2 million in its fifth week. The Columbia Pictures feature has gathered $93 million so far.

Miramax's Cold Mountain rounded out the top five with $7.9 million. The receiver of eight Golden Globe nominations has collected $55.4 million in three weeks.

Newcomer My Baby's Daddy had a fairly good weekend, making $7.8 million from just 1,447 theaters. The Miramax comedy averaged $5,417 per location. On the other hand, the new Mandy Moore romantic comedy, Chasing Liberty, earned only $6 million from 2,400 theaters for a low average of $2,500.

[Loomis]

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King second place.

Director Tim Burton's Big Fish, starring Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney, expanded into 2,406 theaters and took over the top box office spot with an estimated $14.5 million. The Columbia Pictures feature has earned $24.1 million in five weeks.

Well, all good things come to an end I guess...
It has done exceedingly well, especially given that it pretty much made back total production costs on Fellowship alone.

On a related note, it won some stuff...

From CNN.com:

'Rings' big winner at L.A. film awards
Sunday, January 11, 2004 Posted: 6:11 AM EST (1111 GMT)

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) -- In a possible precursor to Oscar night next month, the final installment in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has won four prizes at the ninth annual Critics' Choice Awards, an event whose picks are often echoed at the Academy Awards.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the current champion at the worldwide box office, was named best picture at the ceremony on Saturday, and also snagged awards for best director, ensemble cast and composer.