Last week's number one film, RED DRAGON, held off six new wide-release films this weekend to hang on to the top spot. The thriller, with visual effects by Cinesite, earned $17.6M for a two-week total of $67.2M. Theatergoers are still sweet on SWEET HOME ALABAMA, which stayed in second adding $14.1M, for a total of $84.5M. Two new releases – the romance BROWN SUGAR and the action flick THE TRANSPORTER, took third and forth, with $11M and $9.1M, respectively.

Opening in just 940 theaters, JONAH: A VEGGIETALES MOVIE had a solid debut weekend, earning $6.5M for sixth place. A retelling of the biblical story of Jonah, starring a humble cast of vegetables, JONAH will expand into more theaters this Friday, ramping up to wide release on October 18th. Given the popularity of the VEGGIETALES stories, and that this is the first family-friendly release since August, JONAH looks to have some staying power at the box office. The number one film this weekend was RED DRAGON, the "prequel" to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and HANNIBAL. The thriller debuted with $37.5M.

The high-tech suit worn by Jackie Chan in the action comedy THE TUXEDO didn't protect the film from being solidly trounced by Reese Witherspoon's romantic comedy SWEET HOME ALABAMA, as the two new releases battled it out for the top spot. SWEET HOME ALABAMA landed in first place with $35.6M, while THE TUXEDO, with visual effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks, had a so-so $15M debut, which was good for second. Last week's number one film BARBERSHOP moved to third with $10M and a two-week total of $51.3M. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING landed in fourth with $9.4M and a cume of $136.6M.

Premiering in just 26 theaters up against four major wide releases, Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY averaged an amazing $17,307 per screen average for $450,000 and 18th place. The film is currently playing in ten cities and will expand into more North American locations on October 4. Last week's number one film BARBERSHOP cut down the competition, staying in first place with $13.3M and a two-week total of $38.8M. In second place is the comedy THE BANGER SISTERS with a $10.3M debut, pushing MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING to third, with $10M and a cume of $124.3M.

Variety reports that Michael Chabon, Pulitzer-prize winning author and comic book aficionado, will be re-writing the script for the newly titled THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, the sequel to this summer's amazing blockbuster hit SPIDER-MAN. Chabon, whose comic-book coming of age tale THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY is currently being developed as a live-action feature, also authored THE WONDER BOYS, which was adapted to a film starring Michael Douglas and Spidey himself, Tobey Maguire.

Nearly two years have passed since Disney's animated feature THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE was released, but the documentary made during the production is just now seeing the light. THE SWEATBOX details the troubled production of THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE. Or rather the turning of KINGDOM OF THE SUN into THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE. Produced and directed by John Paul Davidson and Trudi Styler (musician Sting's wife), the documentary premiered this September at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival and is now playing in Los Angeles for Academy consideration.

Cinesite Europe has been awarded a major portion of the visual effects for the Paramount film TOMB RAIDER 2. Based on the popular series of TOMB RAIDER video games, this sequel to LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER features Angelina Jolie reprising her role as Lara Croft. The movie is slated for a summer 2003 release. Cinesite will be completing 3D animation sequences that constitute a significant amount of the total visual effects shots in the film.

After 22 years of retirement, Ray Harryhausen has teamed with Los Angeles-based stop-motion studio Screen Novelties, Intl. to complete a new short film entitled THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE. Originally begun in 1952 as part of his MOTHER GOOSE series, the project was shelved when Ray's career began to take off. He had always intended to finish the film and now, fifty years later, Harryhausen, along with Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh of Screen Novelties, Intl., have completed the project.

The big-budget special effects films have officially been taken over by low budget indies at the box office. With no new release blockbusters in sight, the well-reviewed comedy BARBERSHOP took the number one spot with $20.6M. In second for the second weekend in a row was MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, adding $10.7M and crossing the $100M mark. In third was another indie, ONE HOUR PHOTO, which earned $8.6M after expanding into wide release. The thriller, which stars Robin Williams, has earned $14.5M to date. Last week's number one SWIMFAN, sank to fourth place, with $6M and a cume of $19.6M.

How will Jar Jar look when he is 8 stories tall? This question will be answered on November 1, 2002, when a large-format version of STAR WARS: EPISODE II "ATTACK OF THE CLONES" debuts in IMAX theatres in the United States and Canada. The film will be digitally re-mastered using the proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology, which allows live-action motion pictures to be inexpensively converted into the 15/70 format for presentation on the giant IMAX screen, while maintaining and even enhancing the conventional image resolution.