Hobbits Run 'Rings' Around 'Nemesis'

'Star Trek Nemesis' sunk to ninth position at the box office this weekend, as 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' vanquished the competition to take first place.

The tenth Trek feature took $4.4 million this weekend - a massive 76.2% drop-off from the previous week's revenue, according to studio estimates published at Box Office Mojo. These figures are based on actual takings for Friday and Saturday and projected revenue for Sunday.

Fantasy epic 'The Two Towers' certainly lorded over the box office, raking in an estimated $61.5 million over the weekend, with a total gross in excess of $101 million. But it wasn't just the hobbits who squashed Star Trek's latest silver screen voyage. The romantic comedy 'Two Weeks Notice' grossed $14.4 million on its opening weekend, followed by last weekend's box office nemesis 'Maid In Manhattan,' still going strong with $11 million.

Since opening on December 13 'Star Trek Nemesis' has grossed $26.45 million, with average takings of $1,623 per theatre. With a reported production budget of $60 million and estimated marketing costs of $33 million, 'Nemesis' is far from being a money-maker for Trek studio Paramount Picutres. "It obviously lost a lot of its audience to 'The Two Towers' and it does not auger well for how it will perform in the next few weeks," industry analyst Arthur Rockwell told United Press International.

1998's 'Star Trek: Insurrection,' previously the least successful TNG feature, grossed $8.3 million on its second weekend with total takings of $35.64 million after 10 days. The latest film's current gross pales further in comparison with 1996's 'Star Trek: First Contact,' which notched up over $60 million in the same 10-day period. 'First Contact' went on to take $92 million at the domestic box office, while 'Insurrection' managed $70 million. The lowest-grossing Trek film, 1989's 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,' took $52 million.

The original figures are available here at Box Office Mojo, while the UPI article can be found at this page.

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