'Cast Away' Starts New Year on Top

L O S  A N G E L E S, Jan. 1 -- Tom Hanks entered the newmillennium as the most popular star at the North American boxoffice, selling about $41.5 million worth of tickets to hisdesert island drama Cast Away during the four-day New Year’sholiday weekend.

According to studio estimates issued today, Twentieth Century Fox’s Cast Awayhas pulled in $111.2 million from movie theaters acrossthe United States and Canada after two weekends at No. 1. Itpassed the century mark Sunday, its 10th day of release.

Also hitting a ton was Mel Gibson’s What Women Want(Paramount), which held steady at No. 2 with $25.4 million forthe Friday-to-Monday period. The romantic comedy has grossed$114.8 million after three weekends; it reached $100 millionSaturday, its 16th day.

Hanks plays a plane crash survivor stranded on a SouthPacific desert island for four years, while Gibson plays amacho ad exec who can suddenly read women’s thoughts. TwentiethCentury Fox is a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc.

Snowstorms Hurt Ticket Sales

The Sandra Bullock comedy Miss Congeniality made goodheadway toward $100 million as it jumped two places to No. 3 inits second weekend with ticket sales of $18.2 million. After 11days, the Warner Bros. film has pulled in $45.3 million.Bullock plays an FBI agent who goes undercover at a beautypageant. Warner Bros. Pictures is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Snowstorms in the Northeast hurt ticket sales, studioexecutives said. Warner Bros. Distribution President DanFellman estimated "Miss Congeniality" could have pulled in anadditional $1 million if not for the bad weather.

One-quarter of the 162 theaters showing 10th-rankedCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were in Boston, New York andPhiladelphia, said Sony Pictures Classics spokesman TomPrassis. Director Ang Lee’s Mandarin-language martial artsromance grossed $4.7 million, taking its 26-day haul to $13.6million. The studio is a unit of Sony Corp.