The fantasy juggernaut The Two Towers not only ruled the US box-office this weekend, it also surpassed its potent rival, the second Harry Potter adventure.
In its third weekend, The Two Towers, the second movie in the Lord Of The Rings saga, captured about $25 million in North America, taking its total to $262 million. Abroad, where it grabbed $44 million, its gross is knocking at the $300 million benchmark. It has opened in most major territories except Italy and Japan. It could earn a handsome $100 million in those two countries.
It was a weekend with plenty of good news to half a dozen Hollywood stars, including Jennifer Lopez, whose Maid In Manhattan is showing legs far stronger than expectations. Ditto for Sandra Bullock and her hit movie Two Weeks Notice.
Harry Potter, in its eighth week, has accumulated about $252 million and could end its North American run with about $265 million. On the other hand, The Two Towers is expected to gross about $375 million.
Both films are released by two divisions of the same company. While Warner Bros released Harry Potter, sister concern New Line -- which also released About Schmidt, the arthouse hit that made it to the top 10 list this weekend -- is the distributor for the J R R Tolkien saga.
Worldwide, too, The Two Towers is expected to earn more than Harry Potter movie, with the New Line executives saying that it could possibly earn $1 billion, making it the second highest grossing movie behind the $1.8 billion Titanic.
Last year, however, the first Lord of the Rings saga lagged behind the first Harry Potter movie substantially.
The first Harry Potter movie grossed about $330 million across North America last year, about $20 million more than the Lord Of The Rings adventure. Worldwide, too, Harry Potter with about $960 million gross towered over the $827 million gross of the Lord Of The Rings. This time, the Harry Potter movie could end up between $870 million and $900 million.
Box-office observers offer several reasons why the second Lord Of The Rings movie is doing better business than the Harry Potter saga. While the second Harry Potter film has received mostly raves, they say the Lord Of The Rings film holds more appeal because it is the continuation of a three-part saga. By the same token, experts believe the final film in the saga will be the biggest hit.
The Jacks Nicholson starrer About Schmidt, the low-key, high profile drama about identity crisis and the need to be connected, expanded from 34 to 816 theatres, with heartening results. It grossed about $8.7 million. If there is no big drop in the coming weeks and the movie earns a few key Oscar nominations, it could earn a respectable $60 million to $70 million in North America. It will go for several more expansions.
The sizzling musical Chicago also enjoyed substantial gain in an expansion this weekend. Now in 304 theatres (77 last week), the Miramax movie about judicial doublespeak and the price of publicity earned about $5 million. With plenty of rave reviews, it could become a modest size hit, earning about $60 million. 
Jennifer Lopez saw her romantic comedy Maid In Manhattan, which could become her first $100 million domestic grosser, reach $76 million, overtaking her previous record holder Anaconda, which earned about $65 million five years ago. It was a bigger hit abroad. Also holding steady with a $100 million prospect is the Sandra Bullock-Hugh Grant comedy, Two Week Notice, whose total reached $69 million.
Leonardo DiCaprio continues to be in an enviable position. While his Steven Spielberg directed Catch Me If You Can is just shy of $100 million, his other success Gangs Of New York, directed by Martin Scorsese, has an impressive, if not spectacular, $47 million haul. With a few key Oscar nominations, Gangs is expected to earn about $70 million. However, the film which cost $100 million to $110 million needs to have a huge run abroad to break even.
Yet another medium budget surprise hit like Barbershop, Fox's Drumline has earned about $48 million and is expected to gross at least $60 million before it heads to video stores.
