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Hobbits haul in the millions
Reuters ^
| Sun 28 December, 2003 21:28
| Dean Goodman
Posted on 12/28/2003 1:54:14 PM PST by maquiladora
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hobbits held sway at movie theatres around the world over the Christmas holiday weekend as the final instalment in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy powered towards $500 million after less than two weeks.
According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" has grossed $492.1 million (278 million pounds) from North America and 38 countries elsewhere.
The epic fantasy is outpacing both its predecessors and should reach $1 billion, said Rolf Mittweg, president of worldwide marketing and distribution at New Line Cinema which is a unit of Time Warner.
The new film's foreign haul of $268.4 million includes $48 million from Britain, $45 million from Germany and $30 million from France. The film opened on Friday in Australia, and has already pulled in $8.7 million.
"With the release of each film, the emotional resonance and dramatic impact have only increased," Mittweg said.
Despite its success, the film has a long way to go before unseating all-time champ "Titanic," which grossed about $1.8 billion worldwide. The first film in the "Rings" series, "The Fellowship of the Ring" earned $865 million worldwide.
In North America, "The Return of the King" combined with four new releases, led by the Steve Martin comedy "Cheaper by the Dozen," to drive ticket sales to a record high for the Christmas weekend.
TOPICS: The Hobbit Hole
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To: Ronly Bonly Jones
Oh you mean the real story of the actual ship. I suppose that has 9-11 metaphors, luckily I can get that from any of a number of History Channel programs that are shorter than the movie and don't have Leonardo Di14-year-old.
21
posted on
12/29/2003 7:16:28 AM PST
by
discostu
(that's a waste of a perfectly good white boy)
To: HairOfTheDog
Blech, Tom Hanks did his best work in a dress and I'm not seeing anything he does until he's back in drag. As a comic actor I loved Tom, then he went into drame did a lousy job on Bonfire of the Vanities (a brilliant book) then did a turn as an aides patient and I was just plain sick of him. I've avoided him ever since and I'm not going back, his eyes are just too goofy for me to take him seriously.
Ahh, love stories, no thanks.
22
posted on
12/29/2003 7:20:06 AM PST
by
discostu
(that's a waste of a perfectly good white boy)
To: discostu
I have loved all the roles I have seen him do.
I loved Apollo 13 and Forrest Gump... and any movie where he pairs up with Meg Ryan. Gotta love Joe Versus the Volcano.
I also thought Bonfire of the Vanities was a great book.
To: Ronly Bonly Jones
showed a marvelous shot of Kate Winslet and her two best friends, Port and Starboard.LMAO...file under: CLASSIC!
24
posted on
12/29/2003 7:29:02 AM PST
by
ItsOurTimeNow
(Criswell - "And remember, my friends, future events such as these will affect you in the future.")
To: HairOfTheDog
Apollo 13 was awesome. I've just not been interested in Forest Gump.
Titanice, yawn. Big ship ,iceberg, it sank (oops, spoiler)
25
posted on
12/29/2003 7:35:03 AM PST
by
Professional Engineer
(28Dec ~ I felt my unborn child move this morning!!)
To: Professional Engineer
I understand, I guess... Most times in my life I have enough characters to care about and I don't need more. I am often reluctant to see new movies unless I have a reason.
But Forrest was one of the ones I already let in.
To: HairOfTheDog
Welcome to the difference between men and women. I can't stand any movie with Meg Ryan because romantic comedies give me the hives... although I saw a preview for a movie with her that wasn't a romantic comedy I might have to check that out.
Bonfire was great, I thought Man if Full dragged a lot I just had a hard time caring about the characters in that one. But Bonfire was impressive, I just dig Tom Wolfe's wry wit and wish I could look that dapper in a white tux.
27
posted on
12/29/2003 7:39:49 AM PST
by
discostu
(that's a waste of a perfectly good white boy)
To: discostu
I see.... you're just a curmudgeon!
Have you seen Joe versus the Volcano or not?
To: HairOfTheDog
I'm not a curmudgeon I just hate romantic comedies. Why is it people that like get so defensive? You can say anything bad you want about cheesy action movies and I won't be upset or say anything bad about you. Here I'll even give you juicy targets: I love the Die Hard movies the first two are on my list of favorite Christmas movies, about the only phrase I say more often than "yippee kayyay motherf#$%er" is "I'm hungry". Now go ahead, say something bad about them, there's plenty of bad things to be said, they are cheesy action films after all.
I've seen the tail end of JVTV a couple of times waiting for something good to come on Comedy Central, bored me, not my kind of move. If Tom wants me to see another of his movies he'll need to wear a dress, although I think he's doing fine without my money, and I don't begrudge him the money people like you give him. I just can't take him seriously as a serious actor and have no patience for the romantic comedies he does now. To me Tom will always be a slapstick guy, that's what I loved about him that's what I want to see him do.
29
posted on
12/29/2003 7:59:55 AM PST
by
discostu
(that's a waste of a perfectly good white boy)
To: discostu
You can't watch the end and get the humor of JVTV.
I am not defensive! - I just think you are bein' a curmudgeon. Some of my favorite people are curmudgeons.
I can't stand cheesy action films. I don't like watching people get killed vividly for as the main plot! Sub-plot maybe, but not as the only goal.
To: discostu
I thought Road to Perdition was an excellent movie.
31
posted on
12/29/2003 8:45:28 AM PST
by
dixierose
(American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God)
To: HairOfTheDog
Well there was nothing in the part I saw to make me want to watch the whole thing. Not everybody is going to like every movie.
Well as long as curmudgeon is a compliment ;)
I'm a firm believer in the axiom from the co-writer of Madmax and Roadwarrior (who unfortunately died before they did Beyond Thunderdome which is why that movie blows): when people are talking nothing is happening. I like things to move in movies.
Well boring meeting time. I'll have visions of car crashes in my head to keep me entertained.
32
posted on
12/29/2003 9:02:02 AM PST
by
discostu
(that's a waste of a perfectly good white boy)
To: dixierose
That's the Irish mob movie he made with Paul Newman right? That one actually piqued my interest a bit and I've been considering a 1 time exception.
33
posted on
12/29/2003 9:22:03 AM PST
by
discostu
(that's a waste of a perfectly good white boy)
To: maquiladora
I hope it kills titanic but, IMO, it was the least-faithful-to-the-book of the three movies. Jackson started out in his initial interviews talking about how closely he would stick to the books. At the end of the director's commentary on the Two Towers extended set the three of them (jackson and the two female collaborators) were essentially joking about twisting what they "had to" to cater to an 'unread' audience. Hypocritical, sadly.
34
posted on
12/29/2003 10:10:36 PM PST
by
solitas
(sleep well, gentle reader; but remember there ARE such things...)
To: HairOfTheDog
The burbs.
35
posted on
01/03/2004 1:27:26 PM PST
by
Bogey78O
(If Mary Jo Kopechne had lived she'd support Ted Kennedy's medicare agenda! /sarcasm)
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