'Rings' Sequel Crosses $200 Million Mark

Associated Press ^ | December 30, 2002 | LISA LEFF

[new cruelty]

LOS ANGELES - "Catch Me If You Can" couldn't catch up with "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."

The "Lord of the Rings" sequel took in $48.9 million during its second weekend for a 12-day gross of $200.1 million, becoming one of the speediest films ever to cross the $200 million mark, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Its weekend average of $13,508 per theater had "Two Towers" fulfilling predictions that it would outperform its predecessor, last year's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."

"This film is the story of the holiday season," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "To say it's this generation's `Star Wars' is almost an understatement."

Steven Spielberg (news)'s "Catch Me If You Can," starring Leonardo DiCaprio (news) as real-life '60s con man Frank Abagnale Jr., debuted at No. 2, capturing $30 million in its first weekend and $48.6 million since opening Wednesday...

[new cruelty]

wow

[My2Cents]

What did FOTR take in, in total? Something like $360 million? TTT should blow past that, easy.

[Paul Atreides]

Eat Hobbit dirt, Spielberg!

[dogbyte12]

FOTR took in $313 million domestically and $547 million over seas. It has taken now $200 million domestically, $201 more overseas in just 12 days.

FOTR was at "just" $155 million domestically after 12 days. It didn't go over 200 million until it's 19th day.

[My2Cents]

[kayak]

ping

[jerod]

Two of the best movies ever made.

I can hardly wait for the "Return of the King", and Jackson deserves an Oscar for this achievement.

Can anybody out there remember last years Oscar winner "A Beautiful Mind"? I watched it once, and that was one time too many times.

I've seen the "Fellowship of the Ring" four times, and I could easily watch it again and again. Jackson got ripped off last year and I expect the same will happen again this year, but if they don't give him one next year. There is no justice and the Oscars are a farce. Of course, I guess that goes without saying.

[Rockitz]

Just saw TTT. I thought it was more violent, more confusing to follow, and not as visually stunning as FOTR. At the end of the day I still thought it was a great movie, but I liked the first one better.

[BibChr]

Richly deserved. Great to see a movie that lifts up loyalty, sacrifice, devotion, bravery, and good versus evil — and that does it with such artistic excellence — doing so well. And to think: no profanity, no nudity, no sex.

Dan

[Mercat]

I just saw TTT for the second time. I enjoyed it much more the second time. I almost like it as much as the first one. Third time may be the charm.

[BibChr]

...not as visually stunning as FOTR....

...remembering the opening, plummeting, explosive duel...

...remembering the astonishing cgi creation of Gollum...

...remembering 10,000 independently acting orcs attacking Helm's Deep...

...remembering the creations of Helm's Deep itself...

...remembering the Black Gates...

> forehead slap <

Are you sure you really saw The Two Towers?

Dan

[HumanaeVitae]

I'm on my second tour. I just saw The Two Towers again...haven't done that in a while.

[new cruelty]

Like FOTR, I thought TTT was ok. It seemed like more of the same... walking, walking, fear, walking, loathing, walking, depression, walking, more walking, despair, walking, fighting, triumph, new despair (nothing like new cruelty :))...

Then again, it seemed that way when I read the books way back when.

But I agree with you that these movies deserve awards for the cinematography and direction.

[taxcontrol]

Loved the movie - hated the wait in line. The fetching Mrs. Taxcontrol and I showed up at 7:00, only to find that the 6:00, 7:00 and 8:00 showings were sold out. 9:00 was filling up fast so we opted for the 10:00.

Went to go have dinner and got back to the theater at 9:00. 15 to 20 people were all ready in line. We got in line and waited about 45 min till the opened the theater for seating. Got great seats too. Even the 10:00 showing was about 3/4 full.

Loved the movie. I'm sure I'll see it several times over the next couple of weeks.

[new cruelty]

No profanity, nudity, or sex...

I knew something was missing! just kidding.

[Damocles]

I just saw it for the second time as well. The first viewing I was constantly comparing the movie to what I expected to see from reading the books. (I'm still ticked at what he did to Faramir...)

But, the second time I just went in to watch, and boy what a film! Number three should be even better.

Any idea if they will release an extended version of TTT as well?

[keri]

I read "A Beautiful Mind" first, and then saw the movie.

I've seen TTT twice, and will see it again when I have time. The second viewing inspired me to finally read The Silmarillion (finished last night) which cleared up a lot of mysteries the LOTR trilogy didn't answer. (The Silmarillion is a beautiful book and can stand by itself, though.)

[My2Cents]

I went with a friend of mine (and a big Tolkien fan) and he said the same: He said Two Towers was his second favorite movie. His first is Fellowship of the Ring.

I've said it elsewhere on FR, but I was impressed with the clear struggle between good and evil in TTT, and the message that evil will not be avoided by simply standing by and doing nothing. A timely message (and yet it's interesting that filming for the entire three movies was completed before Sept. 11, 2001).

[cogitator]

Any idea if they will release an extended version of TTT as well?

While this is my own opinion, I think an extended version is a near-absolute certainty.

[Paul Atreides]

I know that PJ has stated he won't do it, but he really needs to do The Hobbit.