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Bond spooks Harry
Die Another Day could become the highest grossing Bond film
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Arthur J Pais
It was no big surprise that super spy James Bond spooked young wizard Harry Potter at the box-office over the weekend. But not many had expected the new Harry Potter movie to tumble by 52 per cent from its last week's' great opening in North America.
Made at about $120 million, Die Another Day with its $47 million gross was a record opening not only for Pierce Brosnan, who played Bond for the fourth time but also for Oscar-winner Halle Berry.
The highest opening for a Bond film was in 1999, when The World Is Not Enough opened to an awesome $35.5 million in North America. It would not be a big surprise if the new Bond movie could become the highest grossing Bond movie.
The $42.4 million gross for Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets in its second weekend was worrisome. Its predecessor had lost about 36 per cent of box-office altitude in its second week. But if the film rebounds during the crucial Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year weekends, it could still be a formidable achiever. Its ten-day gross reached $148.5 million.
It was followed by the $20 million comedy Friday After Next which opened with a healthy $13million, giving Ice Cube another hit after Barbershop. Enjoying a steady run, the Tim Allen comedy Santa Clause 2 was No 4 with $10.3 million gross and a $95 million total. It came down from previous week by about 32 per cent.
The figures announced on Sunday are estimates. The actual figures that come out on Monday are mostly about half a per cent off of the estimates. Occasionally, as was the case with 8 Mile, studios have overestimated their Sunday grosses. The hit movie 8 Mile was off by about 3 million. This weekend, it grossed $8 million, taking its total to $97.7 million at No 5.
The high intensity The Emperor's Club, one of the Oscar hopefuls, opened to mixed grades and earned a so-so $4.5 million. But unlike other movies, which are playing in 2,000 to 3,000 theatres, the Kevin Kline starrer was in just about 800 movie houses. It could add on a few hundreds of theatres in the coming weeks. It was No 7 among the top ten grossing films of the weekend. The movie, made at about $18 million, features debutant Rishi Mehta in a key role.
Rahul Khanna, who plays the older Rishi Mehta, appears in a pivotal sequence in the movie.
Among the other films on the top 10 list is The Ring at No 6 that bewitched $7.6 million and has lured about $111 million. The amazingly resilient film came down by about 29 per cent. At No 8 was My Big Fat Greek Wedding with $3.8 million (it totalled $204 million), the Steven Segal starring Half Past Dead with $2.3 million ($11 million), and the art house hit Frida with $2.4 million.
The well reviewed Frida, a strong Oscar hopeful, has grossed $12 million, and is currently in about 780 theatres. Unless it garners Oscar nominations in top categories, it might end with a modest $20 million gross. The film could have a good market abroad.
It will be interesting to see how the film, which has been denounced in Frida's home country by the critics for being too superficial and softening her communist views, will fare in Mexico.