By Deena Beasley

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' kept movie audiences spellbound over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday weekend, holding on handily to the No. 1 spot at the box office.

The movie about the boy wizard grossed $83.5 million in the United States and Canada for the five days beginning on Wednesday and more than $188 million in 10 days, according to Sunday studio estimates.

The film, which last weekend smashed box office records, posting a final tally of $90.3 million in its first three days of release, surpassed 1999's ``Toy Story 2'' to become the largest-grossing movie ever over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Despite the strong performance by ``Harry Potter,'' this year's Thanksgiving weekend box office take for the top 12 films fell nearly 13 percent to an estimated $203 million from last year's all-time high of $232 million, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

``This year we had Harry Potter, but the films following it didn't perform as well. It was a solid Thanksgiving, just not a record-breaker,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office monitor.

Last year, the most popular Thanksgiving movie was ``Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas.'' The movie starring Jim Carrey in heavy green makeup grossed $73.5 million over the five-day holiday period of 2000.

Dergarabedian noted that last year, the holiday box office was bolstered by two other children's movies, ``Rugrats'' and ''102 Dalmatians,'' as well as by the supernatural thriller ''Unbreakable,'' which brought in more than $46 million to take second place in the box office tally.

'WE HAD A GREAT WEEKEND'

Based on the first of four wildly popular children's books by British author J.K. Rowling, the hugely hyped ``Harry Potter'' has been one of the most widely anticipated films of the year, and box office analysts predict it could end up as one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.

``We had a great weekend. Audiences from 8 to 80 are really supporting the movie,'' said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros., the unit of AOL Time Warner Inc. that produced the film. Movie theaters were beginning to see a trend of repeat business, he added.

Some experts say the film stands a chance of beating the 13-day record set in 1999 by ``Star Wars: Episode I -- the Phantom Menace'' as the fastest film to gross $200 million at the box office.

Walt Disney Co.'s animated ``Monsters, Inc.'' held steady at the No. 2 spot on the box office chart, taking in $33.1 million over the long holiday weekend. ``Monsters'' has grossed $193 million in four weeks of release.

New entries ``Spy Game'' and ``Black Knight'' came in third and fourth at $30.5 million and $16.1 million, respectively.

``Spy Game,'' released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal, stars Robert Redford as a veteran CIA officer and Brad Pitt as his protege.

In ``Black Knight,'' Martin Lawrence plays a worker at a medieval theme park who gets knocked on the head and wakes up in real medieval times. The movie was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc.

``Shallow Hal,'' a comedy starring Gwyneth Paltrow in a fat suit, slipped from third to fifth place, followed by ``Out Cold'' a new comedy, this one about snowboarding, that took in $6.9 million and the No. 6 box office position for the five-day period.

The John Travolta drama ``Domestic Disturbance'' (Paramount) dropped to No. 7 from No. 4 in its fourth week with $5.5 million. Its total is $40 million. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc.

``Heist'' (Warner Bros.), a thriller starring Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito, took in $4.3 million, slipping to No. 8 from No. 5. It has grossed $20.3 million in total.

``The One,'' an action film starring Chinese-born martial arts star Jet Li, came in No. 9 with grosses of $3 million for the five-day holiday period, while ``Life as a House'' rounded out the top 10 with receipts of $2.8 million.

The top movies in North America -- November 23-25

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the November 23-25 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. Harry Potter andthe Sorcerer's Stone .......... $57,487,755

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $186,978,513

2. Monsters, Inc. .......... $24,055,001

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $192,229,825

3. Spy Game .......... $21,689,125

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $30,566,960

4. Black Knight .......... $11,102,948

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $15,409,892

5. Shallow Hal .......... $8,516,424

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $54,998,829

6. Out Cold .......... $4,531,665

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $6,700,687

7. Domestic Disturbance .......... $4,008,337

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $39,801,239

8. Heist .......... $3,113,033

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $20,025,070

9. Life as a House .......... $2,121,159

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $12,220,980

10. The One .......... $2,075,363

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $41,880,185

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.: