..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Kim Voynar
..Michael Wilmington

Stuck in the Middle Something's Gotta Give, the adult comedy starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, ascended to the top of weekend movie going with an estimated $16.6 million. The frame also saw a better than anticipated hold for The Last Samurai and fair debuts for a couple of national releases and encouraging limited bows of Oscar hopefuls. Overall box office had that traditional mid-December sluggishness that could have only been relieved by the premiere of a major seasonal nugget. The frame's final tally should ring up slightly more than $90 million for a slight decline of 5% from the immediate prior weekend. Business was down 11% from 2002 when top spot was a battle between freshmen entries Maid in Manhattan and Star Trek: Nemesis with the former edging ahead by $200,000 with $18.7 million. Something's Gotta Give, not surprisingly, drew a plus 25 audience that was predominantly female. Its strength was accentuated by the absence of any other film targeted to that demographic and bodes well for the sort of success As Good As It Gets had at this time of year in 1997. Despite the traditional distractions and obligations this time of year brings, it's adult appeal movies that are sustaining best in the marketplace. The inarguable holiday surprise has been Bad Santa that started out as a sophisticated draw and has since captured the attention of a younger crowd. The $10 million debut of the Farrelly Brothers eccentric comedy Stuck on You was unremarkable, suggesting the film could easily get lost in the barrage of new movies arriving before the end of the year. The urban comedy Love Don't Cost a Thing was also undistinguished, grossing $6.8 million and likely to be in and out of theaters by the end of the year. Though expected to take a 50% hit, The Last Samurai had still been given a slight edge on the Nicholson-Keaton comedy. It declined by 41% to rank second with $14.4 million and has a 10-day gross of $47 million. Warner Bros. will have to maintain an aggressive campaign to keep it on track for a $100 million box office and push hard for major Oscar attention. New Line's re-issue of the second installment of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers that paves the way for next week's finale proved a bit more potent than last weekend's chapter one redux. It grossed about $660,000 from 126 engagements. Advance response and media coverage of The Return of the King certainly bodes well for it becoming the seasonal box office champion. It's also fair to say that sentiment favors the film to take home the Oscar and the company has shrewdly positioned its awards campaign to take in the full achievement of all three films. The frame also saw a very good six screen bow for Big Fish that also hopes to cover itself in award glory. A Wednesday opener, the emotional shaggy dog yarn grossed $74,000 going into the weekend and added $212,000 for a $35,300 weekend average. Lions Gate's bow of Girl with a Pearl Earring was also positive with a $91,000 B.O. from seven easels. However, The Statement starring Michael Caine was very soft with a $33,000 tally from six screens. The seasonally themed family film Blizzard debuted in Canada with not enough ho-ho heft at $130,000 at 106 theaters. The live-action, animated combo tale is centered around a new recruit for Santa's team of reindeer. - by Leonard Klady