Films

AWN Animated Box Office Report. September 24-September 25: Buena Vista's supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense, with visual effects by DreamQuest, finished third at the US weekend boxoffice, grossing $8,435,193 for a total of $225,042,276. Other animation-related films in the top 60 include: Lucasfilm's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace finished 12th with $801,935 for a total of $424,399,730; The Walt Disney Company's Inspector Gadget, with digital effects by DreamQuest, finished 16th with $422,492 for a total of $93,955,160; Disney's Tarzan finished 18th with $303,692 for a total of $169,497,568; Warner Bros.' shark thriller, Deep Blue Sea, with digital effects by ILM and Cinesite, finished 22nd with $261,376 for a total of $72,052,023; Warner Bros.' The Iron Giant, directed by Brad Bird, finished 25th with $241,114 for a total of $22,025,525; Universal's superhero parody Mystery Men, with digital effects by POP Film and Rhythm and Hues, finished 27th with $187,035 for a total of $29,475,790; Warner's The Wild Wild West, with digital effects by ILM, which finished 33rd with $148,974 for a total of $113,617,776; DreamWorks SKG's The Haunting, also with digital effects by ILM, finished 43rd with $91,255 for a total of $89,737,950; and Trey Parker's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut finished 56th with $51,530 for a total of $52,008,288. . . October 1-October 3: Buena Vista's supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense, with visual effects by DreamQuest, finished fifth at the US weekend boxoffice, grossing $7,025,098 for a total of $234,547,781. Other animation-related films in the top 40 include: Lucasfilm's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace finished 15th with $697,097 for a total of $425,360,285; DreamWorks SKG's The Haunting, with digital effects by ILM, finished 17th with $350,352 for a total of $90,114,112; The Walt Disney Company's Inspector Gadget, with digital effects by DreamQuest, finished 21st with $245,872 for a total of $94,275,226; Disney's Tarzan finished 23rd with $229,196 for a total of $169,812,824; Warner Bros.' The Iron Giant, directed by Brad Bird, finished 30th with $138,897 for a total of $22,207,519; Universal's superhero parody Mystery Men, with digital effects by POP Film and Rhythm and Hues, finished 32nd with $126,020 for a total of $29,655,590; Warner Bros.' shark thriller, Deep Blue Sea, with digital effects by ILM and Cinesite, finished 34th with $112,602 for a total of $72,235,439; and Warner's The Wild Wild West, with digital effects by ILM, finished 40th with $91,299 for a total of $113,745,408. . . October 8-October 10: Buena Vista's supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense, with visual effects by DreamQuest, finished sixth at the US weekend boxoffice, grossing $6,123,967 for a total of $242,710,195. Other animation-related films in the top 40 include: The Walt Disney Company's Inspector Gadget, with digital effects by DreamQuest, finished 15th with $566,409 for a total of $94,888,759; Lucasfilm's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace finished 16th with $538,206 for a total of $426,141,814; DreamWorks SKG's The Haunting, with digital effects by ILM, finished 20th with $360,397 for a total of $90,621,919; Warner Bros.' The Iron Giant, directed by Brad Bird, finished 23rd with $259,637 for a total of $22,493,082; Disney's Tarzan finished 27th with $181,116 for a total of $170,060,044; and Warner Bros.' shark thriller, Deep Blue Sea, with digital effects by ILM and Cinesite, finished 40th with $77,474 for a total of $72,345,055. . . October 15-October 17: Buena Vista's supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense, with visual effects by DreamQuest, finished eighth at the US weekend boxoffice, grossing $5,160,171 for a total of $249,858,389. Other animation-related films in the top 40 include: The Walt Disney Company's Inspector Gadget, with digital effects by DreamQuest, finished 16th with $456,118 for a total of $95,515,139; Lucasfilm's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace finished 17th with $435,504 for a total of $426,818,051; Warner Bros.' shark thriller, Deep Blue Sea, with digital effects by ILM and Cinesite, finished 23rd with $276,195 for a total of $72,648,974; DreamWorks SKG's The Haunting, with digital effects by ILM, finished 26th with $213,656 for a total of $90,947,553; Warner Bros.' The Iron Giant, directed by Brad Bird, finished 30th with $146,959 for a total of $22,732,640; and Disney's Tarzan finished 33rd with $123,754 for a total of $170,259,620.

Toy Story 2 Trailer Debuts On Web. The new trailer for Toy Story 2 began playing online for one week beginning Friday, October 1 at www.toystory2.com before it screened in theaters beginning October 8. The sequel, which features Buzz, Woody and the gang, plus new characters such as Mrs. Potato Head and Emperor Zorg, debuts in US theaters on November 24, 1999. The eagerly awaited sequel to the 1995 Pixar/Disney groundbreaking CGI feature, Toy Story, continues the story of pull-string cowboy doll, Woody, and his action figure Space Ranger friend, Buzz Lightyear. The new film involves an evil action figure collector named Al McWhiggin, who appears briefly in the trailer.

Lord Of The Rings Begins Principal Photography. New Line Cinema's The Lord Of The Rings film trilogy, based on the classic fantasy trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, began principal photography in Wellington, New Zealand, on October 11, 1999. Peter Jackson (Dead Alive aka Brain Dead, Meet The Feebles, Heavenly Creatures) is directing from his own script. The three films that will make up the trilogy - The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers and The Return Of The King - are being filmed at the same time, a tactic that worked for the first two Superman films with Christopher Reeve. WETA Digital is doing the special visual effects under the direction of visual effects supervisor Mark Stetson (The Fifth Element and the upcoming Super Nova). The story is about a fellowship of men, dwarves and hobbits, who set out on a journey to cast an evil, magical ring into the abyss before an evil wizard can get it and use its power to take over the land called Middle Earth. It is a ring that, before the tale is over, tempts and tests everyone, especially the tale's heroes, with a dream of absolute power. Previously, the first book of the Rings trilogy provided the basis for Ralph Bakshi's The Lord Of Rings (1978), the first film of a never finished trilogy, and Rankin-Bass' television special The Return Of The King (1980) was based on Tolkien's third volume.