'Big Fish' surfaces atop weekend box office

By Cesar G. Soriano

From USA Today, 01.12.2003

Big Fish, a surreal story about tall tales, hooked moviegoers this weekend to become the new king of the box office, toppling the three-week reign of Oscar favorite The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

With the thinnest of margins, Fish grossed $14.5 million for the weekend and brought its five-week total to $24.1 million, according to early estimates by Nielsen EDI. Runner-up Rings pulled in $14.1 million for a four-week total of $312.2 million. The weekend figures are so close that the two films could swap spots when final figures are released today.

Toppling the King surprised Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which released Fish. The studio had expected the Tim Burton-directed Fish to catch $10 million to $12 million.

"We've sort of being the underdog of the holiday season," Blake says. "Just to be anywhere near Return of the King is a big accomplishment."

Fish expanded from 125 to 2,406 screens on Friday, averaging a strong $6,026 per screen. Rings, on 3,532 screens, averaged $3,999 per screen.

"It really amazes us that people have connected with Fish in an emotional way," Blake says. Billy Crudup plays a man coming to terms with his dying father (Albert Finney).

"It's not an easy film to sell," says Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. "Sony did the right thing by playing in limited markets first, generating good reviews and good word of mouth, so by the time it went national this weekend, people had heard of the film. Four Golden Globe nominations helped, too."

Two new releases had mediocre openings. The urban comedy My Baby's Daddy wrapped up $7.8 million for a No. 6 debut. Chasing Liberty, the latest romantic comedy from pop star Mandy Moore, opened at No. 7 with $6 million.

At No. 3, Steve Martin's Cheaper by the Dozen comedy continued strong business among family moviegoers, pulling in $12 million to cross the $100 million mark Its three-week total: $101.4 million. Something's Gotta Give was No. 4 with $8.2 million, followed by Cold Mountain with $7.9 million.

Rounding out the bottom were Ben Affleck's Paycheck at No. 8 with $5.2 million, Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai ($4.53 million) and Julia Roberts' Mona Lisa Smile ($4.5 million).