072701

Rank	Title	Weekend Gross	Theater Count	Territory Count	Total Gross
1	Jurassic Park III	$8.8	1,506	10	$34.5
2	Planet of the Apes	$7.0	531	4	$7.0
3	Pearl Harbor	$5.2	2,616	32	$181.0
4	Shrek	$5.2	2,891	20	$105.0
5	Bridget Jones's Diary	$5.1	898	10	$81.1

In every market, save Australia and Japan, there was no competition for first place. So they were all up for grabs for the openers; including Jurassic Park III and Planet of the Apes. But due to good weather, a typhoon, and not enough anticipation, these films rang up mediocre numbers. The real winners this week are Bridget Jones's Diary, by tapping all the romantic comedy reserves left, and Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away), looking to crush Princess Mononoke's very impressive $157 million gross.

In one of the most lucrative weeks of the year in Japan, Planet of the Apes debuted to a great $5.2 million on 326 screens, including sneaks. But that doesn't match anywhere near the type of opening the film had domestically. The film's advertising was headed up by promotional visits to Tokyo by director Tim Burton, and actors Estella Warrer, Tim Roth, and Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa.

Leading Japan though was Spirited Away, a Toho-distributed film about a 10-year old gir's search for her parents in a fantasy land, with a huge $8 million second weekend. That number eased by a paltry 6% in the nine key cities, pushing its total to a massive $31.8 million approximately. That already passes its expensive $24 million budget and its $4 million advertising. The film, directed by Princess Mononoke's helmer Hayao Miyazaki. It will most likely surpass Mononoke's $157 million (19.3 billion Yen) and could become Japan's highest grossing film ever if it passes Titanic's unheard of $210.6 million (25.9 billion Yen). Spirited Away has already outdistanced Pearl Harbor and should pass A.I.: Artificial Intelligence by September. Last week Spirited Away took the all time four-day record at 1,463,921 addmisions.

Pearl Harbor stumbled just 26%, raking in $2.8 million in its third weekend, propelling its Japan cume to $24.3 million. An Steven Spielberg's latest film dropped a reasonable 29% in its fifth outing, amassing a stellar $55.2 million.

Elsewhere, Planet of the Apes produced great, but not as good as expected, numbers. In Hong Kong, where the film opened on Thursday, the film grabbed $611,000 on 25 screens, which is Fox's seventh-highest debut there and $541,000 on 125 in Thailand (the distributioner's fourth best preem and the industry's second biggest of the 2001 year. This isn't great news for a film that could become this years highest grossing film in the States. Unless Europe can pick up the pieces left behind in Asia, Tim Burton's re-imaging of the 1968 classic could gross less than domesitcally, which hasn't happened to any major blockbuster yet this year.

Pearl Harbor pushes ever nearer to the $200 million mark unearthing $181 million thus far. It is already BVI's third highest grossing live-action picture and is set to overtake Air Force One. The film had no openers this week and is currently grossing over 50% of its weekend totals in Japan.

Jurassic Park III caught into excellent weather in Europe and a typhoon in Taiwan, thus depleating its foreign tallies. The film grabbed a dino-mite $1.8 million on 312 prints in Spain and will most certainly increase that next weekend. It also took a great $966,000 in Taipei on 17 screens considering the poor business due to the typhoon. The film grabbed a perfect $723,000 on 83 in The Philippines which is a record bow for the JP franchise and is the 10th best opening ever there. In the United Kingdom the film plunged by 58%, collecting a good $12.7 million in 10 days. It also plummeted 40% in Mexico, scoring an excellent $7.1 million in 10 days. It already has $39 million after a weekend haul of $11 million in 15 markets.

Swordfish logged on in the United Kingdom at the second spot, beaming up an impressive $2.2 million on 310 screens, a smidge higher than Dr. Dolitte 2's entry on 410.

Making its foreign debut, Scary Movie 2 conquered France with an excellent $4 million on 642 in five days and $243,000 on 30 in Israel. Both great figures.

Cats & Dogs continued its impressive Asian numbers, scoring $618,000 on 46 in South Korea's key cities, but fell sharply in Germany, where the 11-day tally is a mediocre $1.5 million.

After O.K. openings in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore and very poor results in The Philippines, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within redeemed itself in Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand. In Australia it rolled into the second spot with a dandy $1.2 million 203. It also took $624,000 on 62 in South Korea, and $165,000 on 32 in New Zealand. If the film gets a sturdy debut in Japan, it could actually break even with its $145 million cost.

And finally, Bridget Jones's Diary scored the best numbers of the weekend in its opening territories. It stole pole position in Australia with a huge $2 million on 221 ($3.1 million including last weekends previews). In Singapore it took a fantastic $252,000 on 21 in Singapore and $198,00 on 50 in Denmark. It outpaced Notting Hill in every case. It has totaled $81 million in just 11 territories.

Next week Planet of the Apes looks to redeem itself in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Another Fox film, Moulin Rouge, unravels in The Philippines and Russia. In Brazil, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within tries to outrun Planet of the Apes. 2001: A Space Odyssey re-releases itself in the United Kingdom along with Cats & Dogs and Rush Hour 2. 3000 Miles to Graceland, Dr. Dolittle 2, Kiss of the Dragon, Lucky Numbers, Save the Last Dance, and Tomcats should make France's weekend interesting. Sweet November battles Jurassic Park III in Germany. And Jurassic Park III looks to unearth Spirited Away in Japan.

Planet of the Apes should lead every territory it opens in with above average numbers in Asia and record numbers in Sweden and Latin America. Look for Rush Hour 2 to beat the competition in the United Kingdom with $5 million or more. France should have a very close weekend. Kiss of the Dragon was produced partly in France which should give it the edge to defeat everybody. Jurassic Park III will lead Germany with $4 million or more and in Japan, look for Spirited Away to lead for a third week, closely followed by JP3.