Those toon titans of TOY STORY 2 crushed box office records over theThanksgiving weekend. The Buzz and Woody vehicle beat the 5-day non-summeropening record set by POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE two weeks ago and beat ABUG'S LIFE's record for the largest Thanksgiving weekend gross with a takehome of US$80.5 million. The sequel to the $192 million blockbuster had thefourth biggest five-day total in history. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, withprimary 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 ANDROBIN? The super-natural flick, with primary visual-effects by Rhythm &Hues, miniature effects by Sturber Visual Concepts, and miniaturephotography 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 SLEEPYHOLLOW, primary visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic and additionaleffects by CFC London, finished fourth with a gross of $18.41 million and acume of $61.6 million. POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE slipped to fifth with agross of $7.11 million. For all who thought that POKEMON's opening wasamazing 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 fivedays. Who's the top toon now? Kevin Smith's DOGMA, with visual effects byStation X Studios, came in 7th with a $3.41 million gross and a cume of $21million. Buena Vista's mega-hit THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects byDreamQuest, made $1.54 million to finish at 11th and make its total gross$272.3 million. Other special effects-laden films finishing in the topthirty were: Sony's THE MESSENGER at #13, with a gross of $1.2 million anda cume of $12.7 million; Warner Bros.' HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL at #18, with agross 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 CLUBat #28, with a gross of $220,000 and a cume of $35.3 million. We are happyto 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.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
