Universals MEET THE FOCKERS set two additional records over the New Years holiday weekend ended Jan. 2, 2005, while hauling in $41.7M: the largest New Years Eve gross of $12,140,181 and the largest New Years Day gross of $18,271,940. The impressive cume to date stands at $162.4M.
Coming in a very distant second with $14.5M was Paramounts LEMONY SNICKETS A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, with Oscar-contending vfx by ILM. The three-week total has now reached $94.6M. Miramaxs THE AVIATOR (with vfx by Sony Pictures Imageworks and CaféFX) flew to number three with $11.3M for a cume of $31.5M. Foxs FAT ALBERT (with animation produced by Warner Bros. Animation) dipped to number four with $10.1M and $33.3M. Warner Bros. OCEANS TWELVE held the fifth spot with $9.4M and a total so far of $107M. Buena Vistas NATIONAL TREASURE jumped to sixth place with $6.7M for a tidy sum of $154.5M. Sonys SPLANGLISH crept to the seventh spot with $6.1M for a cume of $31M. Warner Bros. THE POLAR EXPRESS (with vfx and animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks) dropped to eighth with $5.6M, but has exceeded industry expectations with a total of $155.1M, aided by a record-breaking IMAX 3D gross of $35M. Coming in ninth place was Warner Bros. PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (with vfx from Cinesite (Europe) and Asylum), which managed only $4.7M in limited release for a two-week tally of $16.1M. Dimensions DARKNESS took the 10th spot with $4.6M for a two-week cume of $16.6M.
Meanwhile, the year-end totals for 2004 (which saw a slight increase in ticket sales but an overall drop in attendance) contained four 3D-animated features in the top 10: SHREK 2 (DreamWorks), which led all features with a record-breaking $441.2M; THE INCREDIBLES (Disney/Pixar), which came in fourth with $251.6M, SHARK TALE (DreamWorks); which finished ninth with $160.7M and THE POLAR EXPRESS, which took the 10th spot with its $155.1M.
Other highlights included Sonys SPIDER-MAN 2 (with vfx by Imageworks), which web-slinged its way to second with $373.5M; Newmarkets THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (with vfx by Captive Audience Prods.), which took in a phenomenal $370.2M for third place; Warner Bros. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (with vfx by ILM and Londons SoHo community), which came in fifth with $249.5M; Foxs THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (with vfx by ILM, Hydraulx, Ring of Fire, The Orphanage, Digital Domain, Zoic, yU+Co. and others), which collected $186.7M for sixth place; and Universals THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (with vfx by ILM), which gathered $176.2M for seventh place. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
