By Tim Briody

December 25,2003

The box office had its typical Christmas Eve swoon, with nearly every film down at least 30%. As four new films enter the marketplace today, the stage is set for some amazing business to be done over the next several days.

The only number with any real signifigance right now is Return of the King. The final entry in the Lord of the Rings trilogy earned $7.5 million yesterday, a 39.4% decline from Tuesday, bringing the film to $157.7 million after just eight days. Don't you just love that the series has gotten a larger and larger audience with each release?

Anyway, Fellowship of the Ring spiked 58% on Christmas Day 2001 and The Two Towers jumped 59% last year, so we can expect something similar with Return of the King here even with today's new releases, something the first two films didn't encounter. Look for a Christmas Day take of $12 million, and an amazing run over the next week and a half, which BOP will of course continue to cover.

As David Mumpower pointed out yesterday, there is no cause for alarm in any of the daily numbers, not even Mona Lisa Smile (but even so, a 53% decline? Bad Julia Roberts film, bad!), as all the days in between Christmas and New Year's Day will more than make up for it.

Christmas Week 2003 Box Office (in millions)
Title	Sunday (12/21)	Monday (12/22)	Tuesday (12/23)	Wednesday (12/24)	Thursday (12/25)	Friday (12/26)	Saturday (12/27)
Return of the King	23.33	13.94	12.79	7.56	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
Mona Lisa Smile	3.34	2.31	2.18	1.08	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
Something's Gotta Give	3.48	1.75	1.96	1.50	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
Elf	1.88	1.55	1.85	1.23	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
The Last Samurai	2.66	1.37	1.59	1.11	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
Stuck on You	1.68	1.07	1.16	0.55	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
The Haunted Mansion	1.34	0.95	1.02	0.59	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
Bad Santa	1.72	0.84	0.85	0.71	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
The Cat in the Hat	0.82	0.61	0.68	0.39	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx
Love Don't Cost a Thing	1.03	0.58	0.58	0.28	x.xx	x.xx	x.xx

The big winner in all of this continues to be Bad Santa. Off just 12% on Christmas Eve, the black comedy is making the most of its remaining days of earning power.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the first day numbers for Cold Mountain, Cheaper By The Dozen, Paycheck and Peter Pan, as well as to follow the continued run of Return of the King.

View other columns by Tim Briody