The U.S. weekend box office was lower than usual as more people stayed home to watch the Iraq conflict, the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the Academy Awards. Four new contenders couldn't take BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE away from its top position as the Buena Vista release stayed in first place for a third straight weekend taking in roughly $16.2M for $83.4M. DREAMCATCHER from Warner Bros. debuted at $15.3M. The new feature was preceded by THE FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS, a computer generated short from the Wachowski brothers that will be part of THE ANIMATRIX DVD and VHS collection by Warner Home Video coming out in June. Square created nearly photoreal human characters for FINAL FLIGHT much like those in FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN. AGENT CODY BANKS, with vfx by Pixel Magic and Eyetronics, slipped slightly to third place with $9.3M and a $26.6 cume. VIEW FROM THE TOP, starring Mike Meyers and Gwyneth Paltrow, with vfx from MetroLight Studios, debuted in fourth place with $7.5, closely followed by THE HUNTED (vfx supervisor was Eric Brevig, ILM did primary effects), in fifth place with $6.5M and a total of $23.4. Best Picturewinner CHICAGO, with visual effects by Toybox and Film Effects Inc., held in at sixth, taking in $6.2M to bring its total to $134M. Despite being the only real family-friendly movie, Disney's PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE debuted in seventh place at $6.1. TEARS OF THE SUN, with visual effects by ILM, finished in eighth place with $4.5 and a $38M cume, while OLD SCHOOL, vfx by Gray Matter FX, slipped to ninth place at $4 for a total of $67M. BOAT TRIP, with vfx supervisors Henrik Fett and Mark I. Mitchell, as well as special effects Andreas Korth; debuted in tenth place with $3.7M.
J. Paul Peszko outlinesTHE ANIMATRIX, an ambitious anime-inspired undertaking that supports and expands upon the theology of THE MATRIX trilogy.
