With a weekend take of $30M, the newly-released thriller PANIC ROOM, with visual effects by ComputerCafe, took the top box office spot, but ICE AGE stayed in second place and crossed the $100M mark, making it the first 2002 release to reach that milestone. The animated buddy comedy earned $18.1M for a three-week cume of $116.8M. Disney’s THE ROOKIE swung into third place with $16M, while last week’s number one film BLADE II, with visual effects by Framestore CFC, fell three spots to fourth, earning $13.2M for a total of $54.9M. The teen sci-fi adventure CLOCKSTOPPERS, with visual effects by Cinesite, was in fifth place with $10.1M and E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL, phoned in with $6.1M for sixth place and a two-week total of $24.9M. THE LORD OF THE RINGS, with primary visual effects by Weta Digital, grossed $2.3M, and crossed the $300M mark. After 15 weeks in theaters, the fantasy feature has grossed $301.1M to date. Box office information obtained from yahoo.com.

Greg Singer goes behind the scenes at Weta, Ltd.
to see how The Lord Of The Rings' Academy Award-winning visual effects were created.