A BIG FISH STORY

Studio estimates have Big Fish beating the final movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy by just $400,000 to take the first spot at the weekend’s box office. Big Fish, Tim Burton’s exaggerated adventure tale starring Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney took in $14.5 million, compared to $14.1 million for Return of the King. Those numbers could change when final tallies are released today. Oh, the drama.

Big Fish had been in limited release, this was the first weekend it went wide. Also opening this weekend were My Baby’s Daddy and Chasing Liberty, starring Mandy Moore. Baby’s Daddy did $7.8 million to end at #6, while Liberty did $6 million to rank at #7. Liberty might have done more, had Moore not used a body double for a shot of her naked butt.

Here’s the rest of the Top 10: #3 Cheaper by the Dozen ($12 million); #4 Something’s Gotta Give ($8.2m); #5 Cold Mountain ($7.9m); #8 Paycheck ($5.2m); #9 The Last Samurai; #10 Mona Lisa Smile ($4.5m).