Those toon titans of TOY STORY 2 crushed box office records over the
Thanksgiving weekend. The Buzz and Woody vehicle beat the 5-day non-summer
opening record set by POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE two weeks ago and beat A
BUG'S LIFE's record for the largest Thanksgiving weekend gross with a take
home of US$80.5 million. The sequel to the $192 million blockbuster had the
fourth biggest five-day total in history. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, with
primary visual effects by Digital Film, Cinesite London, and Magic Camera,
came in second with a gross of $23.24 million and a cume of $75.5 million.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back to save the world from Satan in his new film,
END OF DAYS. Why couldn't he have saved us from his last film, BATMAN AND
ROBIN? The super-natural flick, with primary visual-effects by Rhythm &
Hues, miniature effects by Sturber Visual Concepts, and miniature
photography by Chandler Group, finished in third with a weekend gross of
$20.52 million and a 5-day gross of $31.5 million. Tim Burton's SLEEPY
HOLLOW, primary visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic and additional
effects by CFC London, finished fourth with a gross of $18.41 million and a
cume of $61.6 million. POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE slipped to fifth with a
gross of $7.11 million. For all who thought that POKEMON's opening was
amazing take a look at this stat, POKEMON's total gross over three weeks is
$77.7 million, that's $2.8 million less than TOY STORY 2 made in just five
days. Who's the top toon now? Kevin Smith's DOGMA, with visual effects by
Station X Studios, came in 7th with a $3.41 million gross and a cume of $21
million. Buena Vista's mega-hit THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects by
DreamQuest, made $1.54 million to finish at 11th and make its total gross
$272.3 million. Other special effects-laden films finishing in the top
thirty were: Sony's THE MESSENGER at #13, with a gross of $1.2 million and
a cume of $12.7 million; Warner Bros.' HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL at #18, with a
gross of $710,000 and a cume of $38.6 million; Providence's OMEGA CODE at
#21, with a gross of $500,000 and a cume of $11.5 million; and FIGHT CLUB
at #28, with a gross of $220,000 and a cume of $35.3 million. We are happy
to report that PRINCESS MONONOKE made it back into the top 25 at #25.
Japan's biggest blockbuster of all time made $320,000 over the weekend,
which brings its U.S. total to $1.6 million.