NZ film lords it over the rest

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has topped British and North American box offices for the fourth week in a row and has already grossed $1.18 billion worldwide.

But the film, which has earned $8 million in New Zealand, dropped to second place at the box office in Australia.

A spokeswoman for the producers, New Line Cinema, said that as of last Sunday, the New Zealand-made film had taken $1.18 billion, nearly twice as much as the $650 million the Ring trilogy cost to produce.

The director, Peter Jackson, is reported to be receiving 5 per cent of the profits.

North American moviegoers paid $38 million over the weekend to see the film, which has beaten Rush Hour 2 to become New Line's biggest-selling movie.

Paul Dergarabedian, of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, said: "The four weeks it's been at number one is a testament to the perfect timing of its release."

Its North American take over the weekend beat Russell Crowe's new film, A Beautiful Mind, by $2.3 million, but Black Hawk Down, about to be released, is expected to top the box office this coming weekend.

In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald said the film Ocean's Eleven pipped Fellowship over the weekend, although the Tolkien film has made more than $35 million there.

The record in this country is said to be $12 million for Titanic.

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