‘Lord of the Rings’ Casts Spell at North American Box Office

"The Fellowship of the Ring," the first film in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, took the top spot at the North American box office, earning 45.2 million dollars in its opening weekend, Exhibitor Relations said Monday. 

Preliminary figures show the epic tale based on JRR Tolkien's classic fantasy opus blew away its closest competition -- the remake of the 1960s Rat Pack thriller "Ocean's 11," which saw its all-star cast headed by George Clooney bring in 14.5 million dollars in box office receipts. 

The animated kid-pleaser "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" took third place, accumulating 14 million dollars in receipts between Friday and Sunday, followed by "Vanilla Sky," the Hollywood remake of Spain's "Abre los Ojos" starring Tom Cruise and Golden Globe-nominee Cameron Diaz, with 12.1 million. 

Rounding out the top five with earnings of 7.6 million dollars was the drug-laced comedy "How High," starring rappers Redman and Method Man as unlikely Harvard University students -- AFP 

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