Happy New Year For 'Fockers'

Moviegoers embraced the dysfunctional family comedy "Meet the Fockers" for the second straight week, as the star-studded sequel earned $42.8 million to retain its No. 1 slot at the weekend box office.

The film, which teams Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman, has grossed more than $163 million during its 12-day run, according to studio estimates.

The success of the film could help produce record box office revenue for 2004, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the industry's tracker Exhibitor Relations.

"We've had a much stronger than anticipated final week of the year that helped the industry end on a high note," Dergarabedian said.

Unofficial figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations showed overall revenue for 2004 topped $9.4 billion, up 1.4 percent from the 2003 total of $9.27 billion.

Official year-end figures, as well as three-day weekend totals, were scheduled to be released Monday.

"Meet the Fockers" set records for the biggest gross on New Year's Eve, with $12.2 million, and on New Year's Day, with $18 million. The previous New Year's Eve record was set in 2000 by "Cast Away" with $8.5 million. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" had held the New Year's Day mark with $12.8 million.

The Early Show's Jess Cagle calls "Meet the Fockers" the "big winner of the holiday season. ...I am surprised. It's an OK movie. It's fine. The original made $166 million over the course of five months. This one has made that much almost in two weeks. ...It did not get great reviews.

"I think what it proves is how powerful a movie can be if it appeals to all four of what Hollywood calls "quadrants": older women, younger women, older men and younger men. This appeals to the whole family at a time when families go to the movies together."

With no new major releases the final weekend of 2004, "Meet the Fockers" crushed the competition, including "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," which finished in second place with $14.7 million, and "The Aviator," which earned $11.2 million for third place.

"I don't think," Cagle says, "(Lemony Snicket is) performing as well as the studio might have hoped. It opened soft and had a big drop-off. It did pretty well over the weekend though.

"I thought Jim Carrey and the special effects were dazzling, but the movie is sort of hard on get into. The kids are very opaque, like they are in the books."

Cagle notes that "The Aviator" is only on half as many screens as these other two movies. It is getting not a really quick start, but it's also a movie that's going to be in theaters for a long time and I think there are gonna be Oscar nominations.

"I loved the movie. It was one of my favorites of the year," Cagle added.

This weekend's top 12 films grossed an estimated $125.4 million, a 4.3 percent increase compared to $120.1 million for the same weekend last year.

"Meet the Fockers" saw just a 7 percent decline at the box office from its opening week. The film has attracted an older audience interested in seeing De Niro, Hoffman and Streisand, as well as a younger crowd that likes Stiller.

"People loved the first film and they love the cast," said Nikki Rocco, president of Universal Pictures Distribution. "It also helped that there isn't much competition in the marketplace right now."

Several movies debuted in limited release this week, including "A Love Song for Bobby Long," "The Merchant of Venice," "The Assassination of Richard Nixon" and "In Good Company," starring Dennis Quaid and Scarlett Johansson.

"Good Company" opened Wednesday and grossed $229,000 on three screens nationwide. It will expand to 1,600 theaters on Jan. 14.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" jumped one spot to ninth place, earning $4.8 million over the three-day period and $16.2 million to date.

Meanwhile, Disney's animated hit "The Incredibles" surpassed the $250 million mark on Saturday. It was the fourth-highest grossing film of 2004, according to the studio.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

1. "Meet the Fockers," $42.8 million

2. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," $14.7 million

3. "The Aviator," $11.2 million

4. "Fat Albert," $10.7 million

5. "Ocean's Twelve," $9.2 million

6. "National Treasure," $7 million

7. "Spanglish," $6.3 million.

8. "The Polar Express," $5.7 million

9. "The Phantom of the Opera," $4.8 million

10."Darkness," $4.5 million