Two weeks ago HART’S WAR barely made a blip in the box office and quickly dropped out of the top ten, but viewers seem ready to welcome a new military drama. WHEN WE WERE SOLDIERS, with visual effects by Digital Domain, made a big debut this weekend, earning $20.2M. In second place was the teen flick 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS with $12.5M. Last week’s number one film THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, with visual effects by Grey Matters FX and Manex, suffered a major drop this weekend, falling all the way to sixth place earning just $5.8M a 60% drop from last weekend. The vampire thriller has grossed $23.8M in two weeks. The other films in the top ten dipped only slightly and one big blockbuster managed to move back into the top ten. Hospital hostage drama JOHN Q, with visual effects by The Effects Group, was in third with $8.4M making $51M total, while supernatural thriller DRAGONFLY, with visual effects by Double Negative, was fourth with $6.8M for the weekend and $19.4M to date. Disney’s RETURN TO NEVER LAND is still doing well, falling just one spot to fifth with $6.5M and a cume of $35.3M. But the real story of the week is THE LORD OF THE RINGS, which is back in the top ten this weekend, earning $3.1M for $287.3M in 11 weeks. Could the five BAFTA awards including one for Best Picture have anything to do with this rise in box office? Stay tuned for next weekend when THE TIME MACHINE, the live-action directorial debut of THE PRINCE OF EGYPT’s co-director Simon Wells, hits theaters. Box office information obtained from yahoo.com.