LORD OF THE RINGS ruled the last box office weekend of 2002 with THE TWO TOWERS topping $200M after 12 days in release. The second film in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, with visual effects by Weta Digital, earned $48.9M over the weekend for a total of $200.1M. In second place was CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, with visual effects by Asylum, which debuted on Christmas Day with $10M. The film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, earned $30M this weekend for a five-day cume of $48.6M. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN fared better than the other Leonardo DiCaprio film in theaters, Martin Scorcese's epic feature GANGS OF NEW YORK. The film, with visual effects by ILM, added 650 theaters but earned only $10.9M this weekend for a 10-day total of $29.8M. THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE increased its audience by 23% this weekend, earning $7.4M for seventh place and a two-week total of $18.5M. The animated feature based on the Nickelodeon television series of the same name is benefiting from good word of mouth and a Golden Globe nomination for the original song "Father & Daughter," by Paul Simon. The highest grossing animated feature of all time, THE LION KING, got the big screen treatment for its Christmas day re-release. The IMAX version of the film drew crowds to 66 large screens, giving THE LION KING a five-day take of $2.8M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
IMAX is incorporating more and more entertainment only fare to their distribution slate. Tina Paas finds that not only are the results good for their bottom line, but also for adding even more "event" to already special films.
