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Relative to industry and media expectations, Universal Pictures' King Kong was a big softy on opening day, grabbing $9.8 million from around 7,500 screens at 3,567 playdates. Peter Jackson

With the media and the industry hyping King Kong as the eighth wonder of the box office, Universal Pictures will release the movie at around 7,500 screens across 3,567 locations on Wednesday. Peter Jackson

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe heated up the holiday season over the weekend, unseating Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in all of its 13 debuting territories. With the nearly worldwide release of King Kong on Dec. 14, the foreign box office will soon forget its recent woeful times. Jodie Foster

Simple and honest, director Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, based on a story by Annie Proulx (The Shipping News) is what it's been cracked up to be: a compelling tale of two men in love with one another. Lee displays good timing, keen understanding and striking visuals. Heath LedgerJake GyllenhaalAnne Hathaway

While The Chronicles of Narnia achieved box office glory in super-saturation release, Brokeback Mountain moseyed to stellar numbers at five theaters. Ang Lee

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe helped melt a box office in winter. With a dose of broadly appealing fantasy based on C.S. Lewis' famous novel, overall business was up 15 percent from the comparable weekend last year, and, with King Kong looming, 2005 is poised to end on a high note despite being the first down box office year since 1991. Mel Gibson

It took director Peter Jackson with a multi-million dollar budget to remake King Kong as an epic, and what a monstrosity he has made. Sparing no expense, to paraphrase the huckster in Jurassic Park, Jackson takes nearly three hours to render a big dose of pretentious glop. Naomi WattsJack BlackAdrien Brody

Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, based on the first in a series of children's books by C.S. Lewis, puts its religious ideas—faith, sacrifice, selflessness—to graphic images of death, supernaturalism and stark terror, making it inappropriate for young children.

Burbank, California—The inevitable publicity surrounding Steven Spielberg's Munich vividly recalls that West German city's Summer Olympics in 1972. It was during the Cold War. Olga Korbut was prancing around in her white Soviet leotard—American Mark Spitz, a Jew in Germany, was swimming his way to seven gold medals in his red, white and blue Speedo—and an Arab terrorist was pacing on a balcony in a mask.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire continues to break barriers and records, raking in $94.8 million over the weekend from 57 markets. The boy wizard's tally stands at a massive $332.8 million. Jodie FosterReese Witherspoon

Rush to see Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, a small movie with Joan Plowright in the title role opposite a luminous new actor in a cross-generational love story. With a screenplay by an old woman named Ruth Sacks who writes as if she's lived a full, rich life, based on a novel by Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress), this little treasure captures the bond that exists between a pair of self-made souls. Dan Ireland

Aeon Flux sashayed past low expectations, but the post-Thanksgiving weekend suffered its traditional slump as wide holdovers dropped 55 percent on average.

Burbank, California—'Tis the season and, come to think of it, few have mined Christmas as much as director Chris Columbus, producer of Christmas with the Kranks and Jingle All the Way. He's also placed Gremlins in the Christmas tree, put Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon together for a holiday snapshot in Stepmom and sent a kind old man to rescue Macaulay Culkin on Christmas Eve in Home Alone. Add his latest picture, Rent, to the list.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire took just 11 days to cross the $200 million mark. With openings in 23 markets and excellent holds in 19, Goblet was ablaze internationally with a $97.4 million weekend. With France, Australia, South Korea and Russia still on the horizon, there's plenty of room to improve on its $209 million total.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was always going to be Thanksgiving weekend's cornucopia, and it delivered the second overall up tick in a row relative to 2004. The new crop of movies, though, was anything but bountiful, ranging from the middling Yours, Mine and Ours and Rent to the anemic The Ice Harvest. Chris ColumbusBilly Bob ThorntonJohn Cusack

Based on the novel by Scott Phillips, The Ice Harvest is more cynical than genuinely dark and—for those up to here in Christmas cheer and willing to indulge a very bad mood—director Harold Ramis' collaboration with writers Richard Russo and Robert Benton glides toward its anti-romantic conclusions. John CusackBilly Bob Thornton

Putting a pop rock sensibility to Giacomo Puccini's incomparable opera, La Boheme, Jonathan Larson's stage musical, Rent, is a mere smattering of much better work of art. The motion picture adaptation is mixed, hitting bottom when one of the leads is standing on a cliff belting it out over a blaring electric guitar in the middle of what looks like the Grand Canyon. But, for what it is, Rent pays its way.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire conjured franchise best openings in 19 nations, adding up to $85.5 million over the weekend—and the figure doesn't include major territories like Japan, Italy, Spain, Australia and France, which open over the next month. Jodie FosterTim Burton

Burbank, California—Thanksgiving is when we celebrate what we've earned. That's how I regard this holiday, thanks to Ayn Rand, who described it as "a celebration of successful production." As the centenary of her birth comes to a close, this is in appreciation of a writer who created a philosophy, Objectivism, that celebrates the best in man.

From Hogwarts School came a lesson to the industry: conjure appealing pictures and the audience will appear. Daniel RadcliffeRupert GrintEmma WatsonJoaquin PhoenixReese Witherspoon