By the Numbers

Led by “Just Married” in its debut weekend, three romantic comedies were among the 10 top-grossing movies over the weekend. A fourth arrives next weekend in the form of MGM’s “A Guy Thing.”

“Just Married,” which stars Ashton Kutcher and his real-life girlfriend, Brittany Murphy, as mismatched newlyweds, grossed $17.3 million, displacing the blockbuster sequel “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” at the top of the charts.

Two other romantic comedies that debuted before Christmas continue to perform well. “Two Weeks Notice,” starring Sandra Bullock, grossed $6.8 million for fourth place, while seventh-place “Maid in Manhattan,” starring Jennifer Lopez, grossed $5.1 million.

Showing resilience, the animated family adventure “The Wild Thornberrys” moved back into the top 10 with $2.8 million, edging out “Drumline.”

-- Robert W. Welkos

*--* MOVIE 3-DAY TOTAL VENUES AVERAGE WEEKS (STUDIO) GROSS (MILLIONS) PER VENUE 1 Just Married (Fox) $17.3 $17.3 2,766 $6,345 1 2 The Lord of the Rings: $14.8 $283.4 3,477 $4,244 3 The Two Towers (New Line) 3 Catch Me If You Can $14.6 $119.3 3,225 $4,537 4 (DreamWorks) 4 Two Weeks Notice $6.8 $79.0 2,755 $2,867 4 (Warner Bros.) 5 About Schmidt (New $6.4 $21.6 865 $7,403 5 Line) 6 Chicago (Miramax) $5.7 $17.2 362 $15,721 3 7 Maid in Manhattan $5.1 $83.9 2,926 $1,758 5 (Sony) 8 Gangs of New York $4.8 $54.9 2,340 $2,064 4 (Miramax) 9 Antwone Fisher (Fox $3.8 $10.4 1,007 $3,757 4 Searchlight) 10 The Wild Thornberrys $2.8 $35.2 2,608 $1,091 4 (Paramount)

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Source: Nielsen