The Return of the King Reigns a Third Straight Week

[Sulley]

Mind you it can't touch The Return of the King, but I saw Big Fish last night, which just premiered in my town on Friday, and really enjoyed it. I'm glad it placed #1. Yet another great Tim Burton flick , and actually the first of his films that I've seen in theaters. It's got drama, laugh-out-loud comedy, and of course, great characters played by a great cast. I highly recommend it.

[Loomis]

Mind you it can't touch The Return of the King, but I saw Big Fish last night, which just premiered in my town on Friday, and really enjoyed it. I'm glad it placed #1. Yet another great Tim Burton flick , and actually the first of his films that I've seen in theaters. It's got drama, laugh-out-loud comedy, and of course, great characters played by a great cast. I highly recommend it.

I am a huge fan of Burton. I think, if nothing else, he is one of the most visually interesting directors about. (Perhaps the only film I didn't enjoy as much was Planet of the Apes, a combination of the fact that I love the original so much, and the remake...err...reimagining being a fairly "typical" Hollywood blockbuster. "Typical" is not what we have come to expect from Burton). Does Big Fish share the distinct Burton visual style?

I look forward to seeing this when it comes out here...

[poco]

I just read on Yahoo! that Big Fish beat out ROTK this past weekend. I know the two movies are battling it out right now because ROTK says it was number one but the polls are saying different.

[2099net]

From the trailer, Loomis, Big Fish looks to be Uber Berton. I'm expecting it to be my personal favourite film of 2004. (Not sure when it opened in America, but it's a 2004 release in the UK)

[Maerj]

It just opened wide here Friday, it was only in NY and LA before that. It looks good...there was only one Burton film that I thought sucked and that was Planet of the Apes. Bleech! Nice effect and make ups, but it seemed like there wasn't much plot and the ending was horrid!

Like your Little Shop of Horrors icon... does the British DVD come with the original ending?

[2099net]

I'm not sure it's out in Britain yet. Can't say I've seen it anywhere, but I haven't really looked. I have the (revised) R1 copy.

I just got the Broadway 2003 recoding CD (with Howard Ashman song demos). Fantastic! I love "Ya Never Know" and "Don't Feed The Plants". The "Act I Finale" is actually pretty creepy too.

I must say though, I cannot remember all of the songs on the CD from the stageplay over here. And I've seen it twice. Perhaps the stageplay was altered to make it more in line with the film, then recently altered back?

To get back on the off-topic topic of Tim Burton - I read he hated making Planet of the Apes because there was too much studio interference. So what does the muppet do? He signs on for Planet of the Apes 2.

He should stick to doing what he does best. Tales of loners in fantastical worlds based on reality.

[Maerj]

He should stick to doing what he does best. Tales of loners in fantastical worlds based on reality.

I totally agree. He's made some great movies and even the ones that aren't as great as the others are at least interesting some respect.

[Paka]

I just read on Yahoo! that Big Fish beat out ROTK this past weekend. I know the two movies are battling it out right now because ROTK says it was number one but the polls are saying different.

The actual numbers are in now - and RotK beat out BF by about $400k. Return of the King - $14.2 million, Big Fish - $13.8 million. So the King still reigns, but the Fish put up a good fight!

It just opened wide here Friday, it was only in NY and LA before that. It looks good...there was only one Burton film that I thought sucked and that was Planet of the Apes. Bleech! Nice effect and make ups, but it seemed like there wasn't much plot and the ending was horrid!

Well, it was in a limited release before - not exclusively NY and LA. In fact, all my friends and I went to see it on Dec. 26th, 'cause our favorite haunt was lucky enough to have it. That was the weekend they widened it from 6 to 124 screens - it was a NY/LA exclusive for 2 weeks before that.
Now that it's wide-wide, more people will have a chance to see this delightfully Burton-esque film. I like to entertain the thought of it being nominated for a Best Picture Oscar - but I dunno if there will be room in those 5 slots...

As for Burton in general (LOL - wasn't this a RotK thread? Maybe Luke should split it...), yes, I lurve his stuff. It's all so twisted - in a good kind of way. Nothing truly freaky or repulsive about it. But yeah - Planet of the Apes was bad. Me no likey. And I still have no idea why he's "re-imagining" Willy Wonka. Especially with Johnny Depp rumored to be Wonka himself. I mean, the guy does a silly whimsical character in Pirates - can't we just leave it at that? No - he must now be the Candy Master!
...and Tim Burton having used him several times before doesn't make it any more of an inspired choice... e_e I'd rather have seen Christopher Walken, if you wanna talk about uninspired type-casting - the guy's weird enough in real life to fit the role... LOL
That, and he "looks" more age-appropriate for Wonka. I know Depp is 40, but he still looks too "young" to be Wonka. Walken is 60 and shows it. Plus I've always seen Wonka, in both the book and the movie, as a man who looks old and acts young - it fits his character. Plus, Walken could pull off the eccentric, potentially frightening behavior of Wonka more effectively, I think. Depp just doesn't feel threatening enough - even when he has played creepy characters.

Um... okay. I'll stop now before this tangent flies completely off the handle... LOL

[MickeyMousePal]

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King topped the box office for a fourth straight week adding $14.2 million to push its massive total to $312.3 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). Internationally, the film has earned $454.8 million in 51 territories, bringing the total worldwide box office for "The Return of the King" to $767.1 million.

Director Tim Burton's Big Fish, starring Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney, expanded into 2,406 theaters and took second place with $13.8 million. The Columbia Pictures feature has earned $23.4 million in five weeks.

The third spot belonged to the Steve Martin comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, which made another $11.8 million in its third week to bring its total to $101.1 million.

Miramax's Cold Mountain remained in fourth with $7.9 million. The receiver of eight Golden Globe nominations has collected $55.3 million in three weeks.

The Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give rounded out the top five with $7.7 million in its fifth week. The Columbia Pictures feature has gathered $92.5 million so far.

Newcomer My Baby's Daddy had a fairly good weekend, making $7.5 million from just 1,447 theaters for sixth place. The Miramax comedy averaged $5,216 per location. On the other hand, the new Mandy Moore romantic comedy, Chasing Liberty, earned only $6.1 million from 2,400 theaters for a low average of $2,533.

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King #1 Big Fish #2

[MickeyMousePal]

Universal comedy Along Came Polly, starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston, opened big in first place with an estimated $27.6 million, which marks the third-biggest opening ever for a film in January behind only Black Hawk Down ($28.6 million) and the special edition release of Star Wars ($35.9 million). Written and directed by John Hamburg, the $42 million-budgeted "Polly" debuted in 2,984 theaters and averaged a strong $9,265 per location.

Big Fish, newcomer Torque and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King were in a race too close to call until final numbers are released. "Fish" came in at an estimated $10.4 million from 2,514 theaters for a six-week total of $37.95 million. Warner Bros. biker action film Torque made about $10.3 million from 2,463 theaters, while " The Return of the King" added $10.2 million from 3,003 theaters for a massive five-week $326.8 million sum.

Keeping up with the stats, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is getting close to passing Finding Nemo ($339.7 million) to become the biggest film of 2003 and it has climbed to the 11th spot on the all-time domestic blockbuster list (just a little less than $2 million until it passes The Lion King and $3 million until it passes Forrest Gump).

Still going strong is the Steve Martin comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, which made another $8.8 million to round out the top five films. The $40 million Fox feature has garnered $111.95 million in four weeks.

Miramax added 500 theaters for Cold Mountain, for a total of 2,802, and the drama made $7 million in its fourth week to bring the total to $65 million. The movie cost about $78 million to make.

The Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give earned $6 million in its sixth week to bring its total to $100.96 million.

The other newcomer, Disney's Teacher Pet, got no attention from moviegoers as the animated film opened in 2,027 theaters and earned only $2.4 million, or about $1,171 per location for the 13th spot.