Rings tale lords over British box office

LONDON - The second chapter in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy shot straight to the top of the box office chart in Britain on its opening weekend.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers took 8.6 million pounds over its first three days in cinemas, according to chart compiler Screen International.

Another tale of magic and adventure, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", held on to second place with 1.2 million pounds in receipts. After only six weeks in theatres, the boy wizard has amassed 46 million pounds in sales.

Sliding from first to third was the latest James Bond instalment, "Die Another Day", which earned 1.1 million pounds.

Christmas comedy "Santa Clause 2" lost some Christmas spirit and dipped from three to four, but still managed to stuff its stocking with more than one million pounds.

Rounding out the top five was new entry "Sweet Home Alabama", which stars Reese Witherspoon as a New York fashion designer. The comedy entered at number five, pulling nearly 800,000 pounds.

- REUTERS

Herald feature: Lord of the Rings