The horse race to the box office checkered flag came down to a photo finishbetween TOY STORY 2 and THE GREEN MILE this past weekend. When the dustcleared, the toon titans of TOY STORY 2 finished #1 at the U.S. box office.The film grossed US$18.25 million in this its third week in release,bringing its cume to $140.4 million. In its opening weekend, THE GREENMILE, with primary visual effects by ILM and additional animation by Rhythm& Hues, POP and Matte World Digital, had to settle for second with a grossof $18.02 million. The big Bond flick THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, with primaryvisual effects by Digital Film, Cinesite London, and Magic Camera, slippedfrom second to fourth with a gross of $6.16 million and a cume of $99.4million. END OF DAYS, with primary visual-effects by Rhythm & Hues,miniature effects by Sturber Visual Concepts, and miniature photography byChandler Group, finished the weekend race at #5 with a gross of $4.75million making its cume $53.3 million. Tim Burton's SLEEPY HOLLOW, withprimary visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic and additional effectsby CFC London, came in sixth with a gross of $4.72 million and a cume of$81.4 million. Kevin Smith's DOGMA, with visual effects by Station XStudios, edged out POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE for eighth place with a grossof $1.19 million and a cume of $26.4 million. The Pikachu-vehicle slippedto #9 with a gross of $1.18 million bringing its total after four weeks to$82.4 million. THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects by DreamQuest, stayedsteady at #12 with a gross of $670,000 making its year to date anoutstanding $274.5 million. Other special effects-laden films finishing inthe top 30 include: Providence's OMEGA CODE at #21, with a gross of$220,000 and a cume of $11.9 million; Fox's FIGHT CLUB at #23, with a grossof $190,000 and a cume of $35.9 million; Warner Bros.' HOUSE ON HAUNTEDHILL at #24, with a gross of $180,000 and a cume of $39.5 million; andSony's THE MESSENGER at #29, with a gross of $140,000 and a cume of $14million. PRINCESS MONONOKE finished at #30 which is down from its #25 spotof last week. The biggest-blockbuster in Japanese history made $130,000,bringing its U.S. total to $2.1 million. Box office figures obtained onLyco's Show Biz Data Base.
Read more about TOY STORY 2 in Karl Cohen's article in Animation WorldMagazine.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
