Pandya said that thanks largely to Potter, Narnia and Kong, ticket sales could wind up being down only four percent this year. The strong holiday season certainly must have Hollywood executives feeling a lot better than they did a few months ago. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" grossed more than $124 million during its first five days in December 2003.
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president Paul Dergarabedian, said "King Kong" should easily surpass $100 million at the box office by the end of the weekend.Īnd Gitesh Pandya, editor of, said "King Kong" could wind up doing as well as the last movie by "King Kong" director Peter Jackson. Robert Bucksbaum, president of box office tracking firm Reel Source, said he is conservatively estimating that King Kong will generate more than $80 million during its first five days.Īnother box office analyst, Exhibitor Relations Co. ( Time Warner ( Research), which owns Warner Bros., also owns )Īnd coming on Wednesday is perhaps the most anticipated movie of the year, "King Kong."
The strong debut for Narnia is the latest bit of good news for the beleaguered movie industry, which is in the midst of a year-long box office slump.Īfter a weak summer, ticket sales have bounced back a bit during the fall thanks to crowd pleasers like Disney's computer-animated movie "Chicken Little," and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", the fourth movie from the series about the boy wizard.Īccording to figures from movie tracking firm Box Office Mojo, "Chicken Little" has grossed $127.2 million so far while "Goblet of Fire," released by Warner Bros., has grossed $244 million. That take was better than the $50 million or so that several box office analysts were expecting. Lewis children's book, grossed $67.1 million at the U.S. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," the Walt Disney ( Research)-produced movie based on the popular C.S. Now it's up to the monkey to help Hollywood finish the year on a strong note. The chicken, wizard and lion held up their end of the bargain.