Boxofice Report April 5- 7, This Was Supposed To Be Hollywood's Slow Period.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Panic Room," $18.5 million.
2. "High Crimes," $15 million.
3. "Ice Age," $14.3 million.
4. "The Rookie," $11.7 million.
5. "National Lampoon's Van Wilder," $7.5 million.
6. "Clockstoppers," $7.3 million.
7. "Blade II," $7.2 million.
8. "Big Trouble," $3.7 million.
9. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," $3.3 million.
10. "A Beautiful Mind," $2.8 million.

With three new wide releases entering the marketplace, Sony's "Panic Room" held onto the top spot at the boxoffice in North America for the second consecutive weekend as the Jodie Foster starrer secured an estimated $18.5 million. The R-rated thriller, helmed by David Fincher and co-starring Forrest Whitaker, was down a moderate 38% from its debut and has collected an estimated $58.8 million in 10 days.

The strongest performance from the new arrivals was 20th Century Fox's "High Crimes," a drama from director Carl Franklin that reunites stars Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd. The New Regency production arrived in the second spot on its opening weekend with an estimated $15 million, which was on the high side of what the studio anticipated.

While "Panic Room" and "High Crimes" competed for the female demographic, the next two films held up solidly as they vied for the family audience, experiencing mild drops from the previous weekend.

Fox's PG-rated "Ice Age" was in third place with an estimated $14.3 million, off a slim 21% in its fourth weekend while shedding 133 theaters. The CGI-animated comedy has de-iced an estimated $141.4 million to date.

Buena Vista's "The Rookie," which carries a G rating, was off a modest 27% in its sophomore frame, scoring an estimated $11.7 million. The 10-day cume for the Dennis Quaid starrer is about $35 million.

Debuting in the fifth slot was "National Lampoon's Van Wilder." Artisan's R-rated comedy about college campus escapades, starring Ryan Reynolds, Tara Reid, and Tim Matheson, grossed an estimated $7.5 million from 2,022 theaters.

Buena Vista's "Big Trouble" ended up living up to its name, debuting in the eighth slot with a bleak estimate of $3.7 million. The PG-13 comedy, which features an ensemble cast headed by Tim Allen and Rene Russo and helmed by Barry Sonnenfeld, was moved from its original release date of Sept. 21 because the story line includes a bomb on a plane.

As it locked up the top spot, executives at Sony were understandably pleased with the performance of "Panic Room." "This one looks like it's going to last a while," said Jeff Blake, Sony's president of worldwide marketing and distribution. "Coming off a $30 million opening, you couldn't ask for a better hold," he added. Blake noted that the film's broad appeal was key.

Likewise, executives at Fox were high on the debut of "High Crimes." "With 'Panic Room' still strong in the market, we're very pleased with this result," domestic distribution president Bruce Snyder said. "High Crimes" played female and older, with 58% comprising the former and 65% of the audience older than 30. Snyder noted that exits were strong, adding that, "The playability bodes well for the run."

Regarding the continuing robust returns on "Ice Age," Snyder said, "It still seems to be the No. 1 family film out there -- and that's with a lot of quality family product in the marketplace. That speaks well of the film."

Executives at Artisan were upbeat about the debut of "Van Wilder" this weekend. "The film opened where we expected it would. That's a very solid opening, and we're very happy with it," said Steve Rothenberg, president of Artisan Releasing. The comedy had an estimated budget of a low $5 million, so the film should easily land on the profitable side. Rothenberg also noted that exits on the film were strong and the company expects good word-of-mouth on the picture going forward.

There were several new films in limited release this weekend. Sony Pictures Classics' "Crush," starring Andie MacDowell, debuted in 10 locations and took in an estimated $47,970. The romantic comedy averaged a promising $4,797 per theater, and has taken in roughly $58,195 since it opened Wednesday.

UA's reissue of "The Last Waltz," a film about the Band's 1976 farewell concert, opened in one location in San Francisco and took in an estimated $16,000.

Paramount's "Lucky Break" appeared to be rather unlucky this weekend as the comedy debuted in six locations in Los Angeles and New York and generated $7,000. The per-theater average was a discouraging $1,167.

IFC Films' "Y Tu Mama Tambien" added 130 locations on its fourth frame, upping the total to 181, and grossed an estimated $1.1 million. The Alfonso Cuaron-helmed drama averaged a solid $6,077 per theater and has an estimated total to date of $2.9 million.

Fox Searchlight's "Kissing Jessica Stein" grossed an estimated $1 million from 319 sites, 188 more than a week ago. The film averaged $3,135 per theater and has amassed about $3.3 million.

UA's foreign language Oscar winner "No Man's Land," was in 37 venues and took home an estimated $61,000, upping its cume to roughly $958,000. ThinkFilm's "Time Out" added three locales, bringing the total to five, and grossed an estimated $22,000, averaging $4,400 per theater and raising the total to $54,000 after 10 days.

Other films landing in the top 10 included Paramount's "Clockstoppers," which generated an estimated $7.3 million in its sophomore frame to place sixth while dropping a modest 28% from last weekend. The teen sci-fi comedy from Nickelodeon has watched an estimated $22.5 million accumulate in 10 days.

New Line's "Blade 2" grossed an estimated $7.2 million to hang in the seventh slot. The sequel starring Wesley Snipes has staked out an estimated $67.1 million to date.

Universal's "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" was ninth with an estimated $3.3 million, advancing its cume to about $30.5 million. The distributor's "A Beautiful Mind" was next, with an estimated $2.8 million. The Oscar winner for best picture and director has accumulated $165.1 million since its release.

The second weekend of Warner Bros.' "Death to Smoochy" was not kind as the dark comedy dropped out of the top 12, taking in an estimated $1.7 million, slipping a steep 61% from its debut. The R-rated film has collected about $7.3 million to date.

The estimated total for this weekend's top 12 films was $95.7 million, up a solid 17% from the total for the comparable frame a year ago. The top films then were Dimension's "Spy Kids" ($17.1 million) and Paramount's "Along Came a Spider" ($16.7 million). The Hollywood Reporter forecasts the total for all films this weekend to be in the mid- to high-$100 million area, up from last year's $95.3 million.

The national boxoffice for the week ending April 4, was up a sensational 58% from the comparable seven-day period last year ($198.4 million vs. $125.9 million). That was primarily because of strong product in the marketplace as well as a larger available audience because of the Easter break. Thanks to the extraordinary performance at the boxoffice for the past several weeks, the year-to-date total has jumped to a 16% lead on last year's record pace ($2.13 billion vs. $1.83 billion). Estimated admissions for the year-to-date have followed suit with a nearly 12% gain on 2001.

Comparison

For years, March and April have been dumping grounds for films that weren't up to snuff to make the winter holiday slate or exciting enough for summer action fare.

With summerlike box office numbers for the past month, however, that could soon change. Hits such as Ice Age and Panic Room could alter the studios' outlook on spring doldrums.

''Easter was the last holiday that wasn't considered prime real estate,'' says Dan Marks, an analyst with box office tracker ACNielsen EDI. ''But I think you'll see studios trying to turn every holiday into big weekends from now on.''

Propelled by the animated Ice and Jodie Foster's Panic, overall box office revenues already have topped $2.2 billion, the first time that has happened by the first weekend in April and a 16% jump over last year's record box office pace.

And with The Rock's Scorpion King arriving April 19 and Spider-Man landing May 3, ''you're looking at tremendous momentum going into the summer season,'' Marks says. ''March really got us going, and it hasn't stopped yet.''

By comparison, the Brad Pitt-Julia Roberts comedy The Mexican was the biggest March opener last year, bringing in $20.1 million.

This March, three films, Ice, Blade II and Panic, each had opening box office weekends of more than $30 million.

Two Christmas blockbusters, A Beautiful Mind and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, helped keep numbers high. Although both were released last year, their slew of Oscar nominations kept them among the top films well into March.

Mind, which took the best-picture Oscar, has grossed $165 million, while Rings has taken in $304 million so far. Both remained in the top 12 movies this weekend.

The momentum has some already speculating that last year's box office record of $8.13 billion could be vulnerable.

''If the movie is right, any time of the year has become a good time to release a movie,'' says Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

''Ice Age is a perfect example,'' he says of the film, which has grossed $141.4 million in its first four weeks. ''That could have easily been a summer movie. But (distributor 20th Century Fox) saw there wasn't much competition and released it last month. It was a stroke of genius. I don't think you'll see studios writing off March or any other month from now on.''