Lord Returns to the Top

February 18, 2004

The Japanese opening finally happened for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and the wait was well worth it. $14.7 million, (including previews) was the boost the film needed to regain top spot on the international box office charts. Overall, its take nearly doubled from last weekend with $21.7 million. That was enough to push its international total past $600 million, only the fourth film to do so. Worldwide, Return of the King climbed into second spot with $975 million and should cross the $1 billion mark by the weekend. Also worth noting, the film crossed $100 million in the U.K., only the second film to do so, (the other being Titanic.)

Buoyed by a couple strong openings and several excellent holdovers, Something's Gotta Give climbed the chart to second place with $16.9 million. Number one openings in Spain and Germany as well as insignificant drops in the U.K. and Italy helped its international total rise to nearly $40 million.

After four weekends on top, The Last Samurai dropped to third this weekend with $12.8 million. Most impressive was its run in Japan, where it as earned $111 million so far, that's more than its domestic total.

Rounding out the top five are two Disney films that had disappointing domestic runs. With $7.0 million Brother Bear narrowly beat out The Haunted Mansion, which earned $6.6 million.


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Source: Variety

Filed under: International Box Office, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Something's Gotta Give, The Last Samurai, Brother Bear, The Haunted Mansion