Australians avid fans of fellowship

Peter Jackson's first instalment of the JRR Tolkien trilogy The Lord of the Rings continues to smash box-office records in Australia.

The Fellowship of the Ring, which opened across the Tasman a week ago, has grossed $A16.7 million ($20.78 million), Roadshow Film Distributors said.

The previous best opening week in Australia was for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which had takings of $A12.2 million in its first seven days last month.

Before then, the record was held by Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, with $A11.7 million in 1999.

The Fellowship of the Ring is now a third of the way to the record for overall Australian takings, held by Titanic at $A50 million.

Meanwhile, The Fellowship of the Ring has helped to propel Hollywood's box-office takings to a record $US8.35 billion ($20.43 billion) for last year, industry analysts say.

It raked in $US37.4 million at the North American box-office last weekend, helping to push the US movie industry's total box-office takings for last year past the $US8.3 billion mark from $US7.7 billion.

Exhibitor Relations and the producers of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings said the success of the movie, which has taken $US154.5 million in its first 12 days, was in large part caused by repeat audiences.

While the film, about a classic battle between good and evil, has a long way to go before it outshines Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ($US286 million since its November 16 debut), producer New Line believes the film is a marathon runner, not a sprinter.

- NZPA

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