Look At The Weekend Box-Office Feb 8 - 10.

After several weeks of relatively sluggish openings at the boxoffice in North America -- with precious few films debuting near the top -- the weekend's new arrivals at least claimed the top three spots and pulled in solid to moderate grosses as they contended with competition from the start of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Warner Bros.' "Collateral Damage," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and helmed by Andrew Davis, took the lead with an estimated $15.2 million. The R-rated action-thriller was moved from its original Oct. 5 release date following Sept. 11 because of its terrorism-themed subject matter. The boxoffice debut was better than anticipated and topped that of Schwarzenegger's previous film, Sony's "The 6th Day" ($13 million), but still failed to land among the actor's five best.

Universal's "Big Fat Liar" opening proved robust as the comedy, starring Frankie Muniz from television's "Malcolm in the Middle" and Amanda Bynes, produced an estimated $11.7 million. "Liar," the feature directorial debut of Shawn Levy, was the weekend's boxoffice wild card because of its appeal to younger audiences but performed better than expected as the PG-rated film took the second spot.

MGM's troubled "Rollerball" took the third slot as the remake of a 1975 film scored an estimated $9 million. Helmed by John McTiernan and starring Chris Klein and LL Cool J, the PG-13 rated movie was another release-date transplant, with the debut originally set for summer 2001. The action-thriller garnered negative media coverage of its early cuts and was recut, its promotional campaign was challenged in court and changed, and the film has been met with mixed reviews, all of which may have hampered its opening frame.

After a three-week run in the top spot, Sony's "Black Hawk Down" was bumped to the fourth position as the Ridley Scott-directed picture pulled in an estimated $8 million. The Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama slipped a slim 28% week-to-week, an exceptionally strong hold considering "Hawk" lost 179 theaters, and has amassed an estimated $86.7 million to date.

Buena Vista's "Snow Dogs" remains in the race as the family comedy from the Walt Disney Co. placed fifth with an estimated $6.7 million. The Cuba Gooding Jr. starrer has grossed about $59.5 million after nearly four weeks in release.

New Line's "I Am Sam" added 147 theaters, bringing its count to 1,450, and took in an estimated $4.5 million to place 10th. The Sean Penn-Michelle Pfeiffer starrer averaged $3,103 per theater and has garnered about $23.7 million.

In limited release, Lions Gate's "Monster's Ball" saw a significant expansion -- to 341 theaters from 29 -- and pulled in a compelling estimate of $2.3 million to place 12th. The Billy Bob Thornton-Halle Berry starrer enjoyed a strong per-theater average of $6,745 and has pulled in an estimated $3.9 million to date. "We are beyond thrilled with the performance," Lions Gate Films Releasing president Tom Ortenberg said. "We look forward to continued success as we expand the picture in coming weeks."

Likewise, executives at Warner Bros. were pleased with the debut of "Damage." "We're thrilled with the No. 1 opening considering the events that led to us changing the release date," Warners president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said. Not surprisingly, he noted that males comprised the bulk of the audience (60%), but he added, "We were very encouraged by the exit results, which indicated that women enjoyed the film as much as men, and with the holiday weekend coming up we are positioned well."

Regarding the release-date change, Fellman said, "I think we made the right decision moving it back, and the public has certainly responded in a positive way at the boxoffice."

Overall domestic boxoffice dropped 22% from last year's comparable weekend as the top 12 films pulled in an estimated $83.8 million. But it must be mentioned that the 2001 frame included the sensational debut of MGM's "Hannibal," which bowed with a stellar $58 million. Looking back to years before 2001, this weekend performed slightly better, but with the rise in ticket prices taken into account, boxoffice was flat.

As was the case during the previous frame, it was a weekend of relatively low week-to-week drops for holdovers; not one film among the top 12 dipped more than 36%.

Most industry observers noted that the Olympics opening affected boxoffice, with loss estimates ranging from $5 million-$10 million. Friday's opening ceremony seemed to have the biggest impact as the day's grosses for the top films dropped when measured against the comparable Fridays a week earlier and last year. Saturday's boxoffice grosses rebounded, and Sunday is expected to be stronger than the previous weekend, which featured the Super Bowl.

The Academy Award nominations Tuesday should help provide a boxoffice boost for some of the contenders during the weeks ahead as the Oscar push gets into full swing this week.

Bowing in limited release was IDP's "Shiri," which opened in seven locations and grossed an estimated $31,500. The political thriller, acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films, has been a huge sensation in its native South Korea and in Hong Kong. The Korean-language film, helmed by Je-kyu Kang, averaged a solid $4,500 per theater.

Miramax's "In the Bedroom" added 188 sites, upping its tally to 737, and grossed an estimated $1.65 million. The drama has taken in about $19.2 million to date.

Fine Line's "Storytelling" expanded to 38 theaters, 33 more than a week earlier, and took home an estimated $150,000. The Todd Solondz-directed picture averaged $3,950 per theater and has grossed about $333,000.

The Hollywood Reporter projects the total for all films this weekend in the low- to mid-$90 million range, down considerably from last year's $127.1 million.

National boxoffice during the week ending Feb. 7 rose a meager 1% from the comparable seven-day period in 2001 ($130.8 million vs. $129.5 million), while the year-to-date total holds an advantage of nearly 3% ($793.7 million vs. $773.5 million). The 2002 boxoffice enjoys its slight lead because of higher ticket prices; estimated admissions are down nearly 2% year-to-date.

Other films in the weekend's top 12 were: Buena Vista's "The Count of Monte Cristo" in the sixth spot with an estimated $6.3 million, down 28%, upping its total to about $32.2 million; Universal's "A Beautiful Mind" in seventh place with an estimated $5.8 million, off 31%, raising its cume to an estimated $112.8 million; Warner Bros.' "A Walk to Remember" in the eighth spot with receipts totaling an estimated $5.77 million, down 35% during its third frame, moving its estimated total to $30.5 million; Screen Gems' "The Mothman Prophecies," which grossed an estimated $4.9 million to place ninth, down 33%, advancing its cume to about $28 million; and New Line's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" in 11th place with an estimated $3.65 million, down a moderate 36% despite losing 603 theaters, bringing its total to about $271.4 million.