New Line's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is poised to become the second-biggest worldwide grosser after "Titanic" following a solid weekend bow in Japan.
Trilogy-capping fantasy also aims to follow the James Cameron phenom into the record books as only the second film ever to ring up more than $1 billion. So far, "Return of the King" has amassed an estimated $975.5 million in worldwide coin.
"Titanic," unspooled by Paramount and 20th Century Fox internationally in 1997-98, piled up an unprecedented $1.83 billion in worldwide B.O.
No other pic has approached that mark, but Warner Bros.' franchise-launching "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" took in a total $975.8 million after a November 2001 release. It's all but certain that "King" will muscle past "Potter" in all-time worldwide rankings today.
$5 million weekend
Domestically, "King" registered another $4.9 million this weekend to move its U.S. and Canadian tally to $357.2 million through Monday. Foreign B.O. -- estimated at $21.7 million through Sunday (see related story) -- brings pic's international cume to $618.3 million.
Interestingly, "King" is marching up the worldwide rankings despite its position far lower in the pecking order of all-time domestic perfs. If this weekend's estimated tally holds up in final data, "King" will have surpassed 1993's "Jurassic Park" as only the sixth-biggest domestic grosser ever.
That would put "King" just below "Spider-Man," which snared $404 million in 2002. On a worldwide basis, "Jurassic Park" tallied $921 million and Spidey $822 million.
Franchise original "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings" grossed $315 million domestically and $871 million overall following a December 2001 bow. First sequel "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," bowed in 2001, took in $342 million in the U.S. and Canada and $926 million worldwide.
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