Moviegoers Develop a Hobbit Habit

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday December 31, 2001 01:18 PM EST

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"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" kept hobbiting along at the box office this weekend. The first film in the fantasy trilogy based on the beloved J.R.R Tolkien classics has grossed $154.5 million in just 12 days, according to studio estimates. Meanwhile, the all-star "Ocean's Eleven," starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damonand Julia Roberts, refused to relinquish its standing, retaining its No. 2 ranking for the third straight weekend and grossing $128.2 million in just over three weeks. In limited release, Ridley Scott's war movie "Black Hawk Down," set in Somalia, opened huge, grossing $182,000 in four theaters. Other promising openings in limited engagements were Robert Altman's "Gosford Park"; "Monster's Ball," starring Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry; and "I Am Sam," with Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer. The weekend's Top 10, according to studio estimates, are as follows:

1. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," $37.4 million
2. "Ocean's Eleven," $17.4 million
3. "Ali," $15.3 million
4. "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius," $15 million
5. "Vanilla Sky," $11.5 million
6. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," $11.46 million
7. "Kate & Leopold," $9.5 million
8. "A Beautiful Mind," $7.2 million
9. "Monsters, Inc.," $6.5 million
10. "The Majestic," $5.6 million