The Cat in the Hat was a big disappointment. It's even more well known than Grinch but seemed to turn e dry one off.

I wonder what a 4th Austin Powers/Dr Evil would do if released in the next couple of years? Too long a wait obviously but just not sure.

I came to like The Cat in the Hat. It was played in my house quite a lot.

The Cat In The Hat really was a massively wasted opportunity. If it were any good, could have made 75% more.

In fact, that entire weekend had terribly received movies. Gothika and Cat In The Hat. Then The Haunted Mansion the weekend after.

I thought Gothika was alright.

Gothika did solid numbers. The month was a big let fm form overall though.

Time for a long-delayed bump and return from hiatus.

The Return of the King had a massively impressive opening weekend. I think the fact that neither of the Hobbit movies have performed even close to this level is evidence of just how amazing the Rings trilogy was at the box office. Even though it didn't hold onto the title for long, it did nail down the biggest Wednesday-to-Friday opening ever at the time, and it would have made a play at $100 million for the weekend had it opened on a Friday. Of course, all of these feats become even more impressive when one considers that it was 200 minutes long.

Mona Lisa Smile did somewhat poorly considering that it wasn't that long beforehand that Julia Roberts was still a draw. I always wondered why Sony was releasing it just one week after Something's Gotta Give, which seemed to be playing to a similar audience.

The Last Samurai seriously underachieved in its first few weeks. It did ultimately ride late legs past $100 million and the international grosses were huge, but I remember being disappointed with its performance in each of its first three weekends.

Bad Santa had a really good run under the radar. I wouldn't believe that a movie like that could make $60 million today, let alone ten years ago.

I remember talk being quite positive for Mona Lisa Smile and The Last Samurai's runs.

I was waiting for this. That ROTK opening weekend was amazing. I remember buying the tickets in advance, and waiting in line for several hours to make sure I got a good seat.

Hell, ROTK's performance up to New Year's was amazing in general. With 75% of Avatar's grosses coning from 3D showings, I'm pretty sure that ROTK sold more tickets during the holidays (granted, it had two extra days, and its holiday run was considerably more frontloaded than Avatar's...)

Last Samurai's run was deemed quite good.it opened the weekend after Thanksgiving with good numbers considering its one if the worst weekends of the year to release a film.

ROTK was just huge. A culmination of 3 years of LOTR build up and the opening week was mega. I do think most expected it to hit 400m after that opening but it fell short as late legs weren't as good as expected.

I remember ROTK, god one of the worst midnight experiences of my life. But it's run was quite impressive. I still find FOTR's and TTT run's slightly more impressive though. But ROTK definitely beats both of them opening wise.

Please explain. I'm really curious now.

ROTK was one of the most memorable opening-night experiences of my life. Buying the advance tickets on Fandango (rare at the time), getting to the theater right after school and waiting at the front of the ticketholders' line for almost the length of the film itself, the trailers not even starting for 10-20 minutes, the trailer reel feeling like the longest I'd seen to date ( not compared to today's 20-minute monstrosities), the entire audience being kept in suspense so long you'd think the theater staff decided to fuck with us for their enjoyment.

And that's not even including watching the film itself...

Watching the LOTR films back then was one of the most memorable and enjoyable experienced Ive had in terms of moviegoing.

I was always bummed that I never got a chance to see the original LOTR Trilogy on big screen. Hoping for the IMAX to re-run those movies with the last Hobbit movie. The problem is to have people sit in theaters for SOOOOO very long.....

Among my New Year's resolutions is to update this thing more regularly. It's especially worthwhile considering that 2004 had some astonishing runs occur.

Figured I'd finally start this thread to have a look back at the box office earnings of a decade ago - especially considering that we have a few folks here who were posting about these numbers when they were first reported. I'll keep updating this first post each week.

This Week: January 9-11, 2004 - The Week When Big Fish Couldn't Close

1 1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King NL $14,209,098 -49.6% 3,532 -171 $4,022 $312,320,936 $94 4
2 12 Big Fish Sony $13,811,191 +442.8% 2,406 +2,281 $5,740 $23,386,775 $70 5
3 2 Cheaper by the Dozen Fox $11,751,349 -45.7% 3,238 -69 $3,629 $101,147,842 $40 3
4 4 Cold Mountain Mira. $7,881,729 -31.9% 2,302 +86 $3,423 $55,340,445 $79 3
5 3 Something's Gotta Give Sony $7,727,359 -34.0% 2,876 +68 $2,686 $92,515,314 $80 5
6 N My Baby's Daddy Mira. $7,548,819 - 1,447 - $5,216 $7,548,819 $12 1
7 N Chasing Liberty WB $6,081,483 - 2,400 - $2,533 $6,081,483 $23 1
8 5 Paycheck Par. $5,146,378 -47.7% 2,762 - $1,863 $46,443,104 $60 3
9 8 The Last Samurai WB $4,550,419 -38.3% 1,901 -500 $2,393 $97,181,327 $140 6
10 7 Mona Lisa Smile SonR $4,383,072 -47.2% 2,500 -214 $1,753 $56,883,304 $65 4

Adjusted for Inflation:
1 1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King NL $17,938,700 -49.6% 3,532 -171 $5,100 $394,298,900 $94 4
2 12 Big Fish Sony $17,436,400 +442.8% 2,406 +2,281 $7,200 $29,525,300 $70 5
3 2 Cheaper by the Dozen Fox $14,835,800 -45.7% 3,238 -69 $4,600 $127,697,100 $40 3
4 4 Cold Mountain Mira. $9,950,500 -31.9% 2,302 +86 $4,300 $69,866,200 $79 3
5 3 Something's Gotta Give Sony $9,755,600 -34.0% 2,876 +68 $3,400 $116,798,700 $80 5
6 N My Baby's Daddy Mira. $9,530,200 - 1,447 - $6,600 $9,530,200 $12 1
7 N Chasing Liberty WB $7,677,700 - 2,400 - $3,200 $7,677,700 $23 1
8 5 Paycheck Par. $6,497,200 -47.7% 2,762 - $2,400 $58,633,500 $60 3
9 8 The Last Samurai WB $5,744,800 -38.3% 1,901 -500 $3,000 $122,689,500 $140 6
10 7 Mona Lisa Smile SonR $5,533,500 -47.2% 2,500 -214 $2,200 $71,814,000 $65 4

This was the first time that I ever really held out for actuals, if only because of how close the race was.

Looking back now, it was pretty significant that Return of the King topped the box office again. There would not be another movie to top the box office for four consecutive weekends until The Dark Knight in 2008 (although The Passion did have four weekends at #1 after it returned to the top over Easter). Hell, it was a rare feat even then, as the previous movie to do it was The Fellowship of the Ring two years earlier. Since ROTK, the only movies that have been #1 for at least four consecutive weeks are The Dark Knight, Avatar, and The Hunger Games.

Big Fish deserved better at the box office. It wasn't a flop - and it did have strong legs after its opening weekend - but it was such an enjoyable movie and a visual spectacle that it deserved a bigger audience in the theatre. I'm one of the people to blame for that, though, as I didn't see it until it hit DVD.

Cheaper by the Dozen became Steve Martin's second 2003 release to surpass $100 million. The level of this movie's success still surprises me; it's nothing special, and yet even its raw gross would still be impressive for a movie of its type in 2014.

My Baby's Daddy and Chasing Liberty did okay for clear January dumps.

Does anyone still remember Paycheck? No? Good; now-respectable Ben Affleck surely thanks you.

Bummer, indeed. I saw all three in the theatre, and they played a huge role in making me want to be a frequent moviegoer and in getting me to take critical reviews seriously and follow awards season (I was 11 when Fellowship came out). My taste was pretty bad at 13, but even then, I knew I was witnessing something special when I saw Return of the King over its opening weekend.

I'd LOVE to see an IMAX re-release of the original trilogy at some point. Cinemark actually did show the entire trilogy (all extended) in their XD format on the Saturday before the first Hobbit movie came out. I thought about going with some friends, but it was right before finals week and I had a few papers to write, so I bailed on it.

I remember Paycheck. It was awful. Such a huge shame and a glaring fuck up on the great career of John Woo.

Last Samurai really should have done better at the domestic box office

Why? It was considered a solid hit at the time, especially since it opened in the post-Thanksgiving weekend and actually did well.

Yes Last Samurai was a hit. No issue whatsoever with its gross.

Webslinger - nice recap. I also remember how close the weekend was - but in the end ROTK managed to stay ahead.

I still haven't seen Big Fish though. Really need to.

TLS was a worldwide hit.

It made more in Japan then in America.

domestically the gross is pretty low considering Tom Cruise was still liked at the time

domestically the gross is pretty low considering Tom Cruise was still liked at the time

It was Cruise's fourth $100 million earner in a row. What's more, The Last Samurai was also 2.5 hours long, rated R, opened after Thanksgiving AND just two weeks before Return of the King, and got mixed reviews despite being expected to be a player in the Oscar race. All things considered, it did just fine.