One weekend, two winners

Dec 03, 2002 by Ian Evans

If you look at just the usual three day tally of Friday to Sunday, then Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets returned to the top of the North American box office with a three day total of $32.1 million compared to Die Another Day’s $31 million. If you take into account the five day American Thanksgiving weekend, then Bond beats Potter $46 million to $45.7. How you spin the weekend depends on which studio you work for.

Seeing as it’s the real start of the Xmas holiday season for US shoppers, it’s no surprise that The Santa Clause 2 climbed 19% and took third spot with $12.1 million over the three days. Disney was expecting more from another flick, Treasure Planet, but it fell below their predictions and landed in fourth spot with $12 million.

Adam Sandler’s 8 Crazy Nights rounded out the top five with $9.4 million.