By the Numbers

Miramax decided to wait two more weeks before expanding “Chicago” into more than 1,000 venues, and the strategy appears to have paid off. Rather than buck the Super Bowl, “Chicago” now will expand Feb. 7. Still, the film did well, grossing $8.2 million -- an increase of 8% over the prior Friday-Sunday period -- for a healthy per-venue average of $13,375.

By comparison, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” shrank by 444 theaters and saw its weekend box office fall 36% compared with the previous Friday through Sunday; “Catch Me If You Can” dropped 274 screens for a 39% loss; and “About Schmidt” added 290 venues, but saw its box office skid 5% compared with the Friday-Sunday of last week. “The Hours” added 100 venues (for a total of 502) only to see its box office decline 15%, still posting a healthy $7,837 per theater.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. announced that “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” became the third highest-grossing film internationally with $568.2 million in foreign ticket sales. -- Robert W. Welkos

*--* MOVIE 3-DAY TOTAL VENUES AVERAGE WEEKS (STUDIO) GROSS (MILLIONS) PER VENUE 1 Darkness Falls (Sony) $12.0 $12.0 2,837 $4,239 1 2 Kangaroo Jack (Warner $11.5 $35.1 2,848 $4,055 2 Bros.) 3 Chicago (Miramax) $8.2 $40.4 616 $13,375 5 4 National Security $7.3 $26.0 2,729 $2,678 2 (Sony) 5 The Lord of the Rings: $6.6 $308.8 2,666 $2,480 6 The Two Towers (New Line) 6 Catch Me If You Can $6.5 $145.0 2,776 $2,342 5 (DreamWorks) 7 Just Married (Fox) $6.48 $43.4 2,705 $2,397 3 8 Confessions of a $5.8 $6.3 1,769 $3,297 4 Dangerous Mind (Miramax) 9 About Schmidt (New $5.4 $37.7 1,236 $4,355 7 Line) 10 The Hours (Paramount) $3.9 $13.9 502 $7,837 5

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Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.