TOP 10: Float like a BUTTERFLY, sting like a bee

By: Patrick Sauriol
Date: Monday, January 26, 2004

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT flew to the top of the box office this past weekend, shuffling last weekend's top performer, ALONG CAME POLLY, to second spot. The Ashton Kutcher picture took in a healthy $17.1 million dollars in its first weekend, which isn't too high or low for this time of the year.

WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON!, which stars Kutcher's THAT '70S SHOW costar Topher Grace, came in a distant third with $7.5 M. Tim Burton's BIG FISH was at fourth spot and has made just a hair under $50 M in its release. Meanwhile this season's two titans, THE RETURN OF THE KING and CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN are still grabbing audiences and adding more money to their nine figure totals.

The weekend's biggest mover was Clint Eastwood's MYSTIC RIVER which jumped 16 spots to tenth position. Undoubtedly the positive critical reviews and shine from the film's Golden Globe nominations have helped the film. With Oscar nominations coming up shortly, it's a good bet that MYSTIC RIVER will have a few and profit from more accolades.

Here are the estimated box office receipts of the top ten films from January 22 through to January 24, with their weekend gross and the movie's total domestic gross to date:

1. THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT $17,100,000 $17,100,000
2. ALONG CAME POLLY $16,600,000 $52,500,000
3. WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON! $7,500,000 $7,500,000
4. BIG FISH $7,300,000 $49,100,000
5. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING $6,850,000 $337,882,000
6. CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN $6,600,000 $122,750,000
7. COLD MOUNTAIN $5,300,000 $72,900,000
8. TORQUE $4,425,000 $17,211,000
9. SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE $4,100,000 $107,137,000
10. MYSTIC RIVER $3,125,000 $58,521,000


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