By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Moviegoers jammed theaters over the weekend as the Chris Tucker-Jackie Chan action-comedy ''Rush Hour 2'' opened with a record-breaking haul of $66.8 million, propelling overall receipts to historic levels, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

Last weekend's champ, ``Planet of the Apes,'' slipped to No. 2 with $28.5 million, ahead of newly released family comedy ''The Princess Diaries'' with a stronger-than-expected $23.2 million launch.

With the ``Rush Hour'' sequel debuting on the heels of a $68.5 million opening for ``Apes'' last weekend, and ahead of an expected strong bow for ``American Pie 2'' next weekend, movie industry executives were eager after what has been a so-so summer this year.

The box office cheer did not extend to ``Original Sin,'' a steamy romance starring Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie, which opened at No. 6 with a disappointing $6.4 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period.

The top 12 films this weekend grossed about $164 million, up 14 percent from last weekend and up 39 percent from the year-ago weekend, when invisible-man thriller ``Hollow Man'' debuted at No. 1 with $26.4 million.

Box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations said sales set a new record for a three-day non-holiday weekend, surpassing the $147 million total for the top 12 last November when ``Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas'' was tops.

'RUSH' SEQUEL NO. 4 ON ALL-TIME LIST

``Rush Hour 2,'' which cost a reported $90 million to make, steamrolled over bad-to-mixed reviews to become the fourth-best opener of all time. The record is held by ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' with $72.1 million, followed by ``Planet of the Apes'' ($68.5 million) and ``The Mummy Returns'' ($68.1 million).

The No. 4 spot was previously held by ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace'' ($64.8 million). Rival studios had estimated ``Rush Hour 2'' in the low $60 million area, so ''Menace'' may yet retain its ranking when final data are released Monday.

Going into the weekend, executives at AOL Time Warner Inc.-owned New Line had expected the film to open in the $50 million area, nicely beating the $33 million bow of the original. The studio's marketing president, Russell Schwartz, said it benefited from the lack of comedies this summer.

Tucker, who received a $20 million payday and Chan who was paid $15 million, play mismatched cops on the loose in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Brett Ratner returned as director. As indicated in the outtakes that play over the final credits, a third ``Rush Hour'' is in the works.

``Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan have an incredible magic together that you can't duplicate,'' said the film's producer, Arthur Sarkissian. ``People cheer, they laugh, they're having an incredibly good time.''

Elsewhere, director Tim Burton's update of sci-fi thriller ''Planet of the Apes'' passed the century mark on Friday, its eighth day of release. The film's 10-day total stands at $124.7 million. The film was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc.

As with other big releases this summer, ``Planet of the Apes'' lost more than half its audience in its second weekend (58 percent). Big films are doing more and more business on the opening weekends as the studios mount aggressive marketing and distribution campaigns to pull in viewers who may have waited until the second or third weekends.

REGAL BOW FOR 'PRINCESS'

``The Princess Diaries,'' a Walt Disney Pictures family comedy starring newcomer Anne Hathaway as a high-schooler groomed to rule a distant kingdom and Julie Andrews as her regal grandmother, exceeded the studio's expectations of a modest $13 million-$15 million opening. Directed by Garry Marshall (''Pretty Woman''), the film's G rating had caused some speculation that it might not be edgy enough for sophisticated viewers. Females made up about 60 percent of the audience. Walt Disney Pictures is a unit of Walt Disney Co.

Rounding out the top five were ``Jurassic Park III,'' which fell two places to No. 4 with $12.1 million in its third weekend. The 14-day total for the dinosaur romp stands at $146.8 million. The film was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal.

The Julia Roberts-led ensemble comedy ``America's Sweethearts'' was also down two places in its third weekend, with $8.4 million. The film's 10-day total is $75.1 million. It was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp.

``Original Sin,'' released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., is an R-rated period romance set in Cuba. The young males who flocked to see Jolie in recent hit ``Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' deserted her this time, leaving women to comprise more than 60 percent of the audience, MGM executives said.

REUTERS

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the August 3-5 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. Rush Hour 2 .......... $67,408,222

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $67,408,222

2. Planet of the Apes .......... $27,535,697

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $123,740,974

3. The Princess Diaries .......... $22,862,269

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $22,862,269

4. Jurassic Park III .......... $12,272,810

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $147,019,015

5. America's Sweethearts .......... $8,038,495

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $74,690,047

6. Original Sin .......... $6,402,741

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $6,402,741

7. Legally Blonde .......... $5,851,309

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $71,358,267

8. The Score .......... $4,863,222

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $57,165,414

9. Dr. Dolittle 2 .......... $2,272,622 .......... $106,169,525

10. Cats & Dogs .......... $2,211,445

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $86,707,368

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.: The record breaking summer continues with Rush Hour 2 packing the cinematic caves. It is amazing how a very simple premise has caught on with so many people. More on that movie in my full review. Princess Diaries opened very well for a G rated film, and may just be the best opening ever for a live action G movie. I almost went to see this because Anne Hathaway looks very good in the trailers. She may have one of the prettiest smiles I have ever seen. The expected bomb of the week is Original Sin. It has been delayed for months and it never looked like it would be that interesting. Since Angelina Jolie likes tattoos so much, it is fun to see if you can spot them through the ten pounds of make-up they put on her arm to cover up her husband's name. Big report this week with the long awaited return of Zhang Ziyi to the Kickin' Box Office Report.

Jackie Chan is the biggest movie star in the world. His fan base in Asia alone is enough to qualify for that title. but now a majority of Americans know who he is and enjoy his work. Chan is more successful with his American movies where he gets to speak in his own voice than his Hong Kong epics where he is dubbed or sub titled. You don't go to see a JC movie to hear him jibber jabber, you go there to see him run up walls and flip over heads and do a stunt so crazy you want to run through the scream and beg for him not to do it or he will get hurt. I enjoy Jackie anytime he gets in a fight because they are the most amazingly choreographed spectacles I have ever seen. Since Jackie still has not perfected his english, he needs to have a sidekick who can to help carry the film. His partner is the outrageous Chris Tucker who some debate if what he says is actually english or some strange hybrid. Tucker is a loudmouth madman who has a certain charm that is either infectious or will just make you sick. His work in Friday and Rush Hour 1 was great, but he was overbearing in Fifth Element. The Rush Hour movies give Tucker much room to ad lib and be like himself while trying to portray a character. It hides any acting deficiencies he has since the James Carter character in the Rush Hour movies are basically Chris Tucker with a badge. Rush Hour 1 made lots and lots of money so a sequel was a lock. Chan received $15 million and Tucker got $20 million to come back. The first movie had Chan's Chief Inspector Lee go to the United States to investigate a crime and then mix it up with Tucker, and Rush Hour 2 has Tucker's Carter in Hong Kong mixing it up with Chan. It writes itself these sequels. I have to say that this movie is one of the best of the Summer if not the year in terms of pure entertainment value. There is this weird chemistry between these two that is showcased here that is amazing to watch. Them grooving to the beach boys, arguing over karaoke routines, deciding who to get a massage from, and which way to punch the latest bad guy who gets in their face. There is a about a 20 minute span of time in the film where the two are separated and you still feel they are together onscreen interacting. Most of the funnier jokes are shown in the previews, but I looked forward to their appearances and still laughed when I saw them. The Toto, understanding the words coming out of my mouth, interrupting in a buffet line, and Egyptian style girl are still funny to me even though I have seen the clips 200 times. Plus there are numerous other hysterical lines that had me and the rest of the audience rolling in the aisles. The humor is somewhat acquired, however, since much of it is based on racial stereotypes. Many have criticized these movies for being racially offensive to Asians and Blacks. That is of course ridiculous. If anything, it is goofing on all of those stereotypes and turning them on their ear. The "all you people look alike" line Tucker exclaims as he accidentally hits Chan could be considered troublesome, but in the context of the scene it does make sense and in terms of the Carter character it is his way of dealing with the hectic situation of fighting off a horde of Triad gang members. It is also rare to never that you see Blacks and Asians working together as a team in a movie. People talk about there needing to be diversity in movies and this movie is that where the top names are non-white but still attract all spectrums of society who enjoy action comedy films. Race is made fun of, but it also brings the races together in a way as to not seem like that is what they are trying to do. By making it comedic, people are more willing to accept and watch where as dramatic go to the back of the bus and concentration camp racism is hard to watch and people turn away. Chan's performance won't turn too many people away because it is mostly physical. He is hard to understand sometimes, but you should still be able to keep up. Tucker's act is harder to take if you are not a fan. It is heavy on the jive talk and the wide eyed goofball variety, but he has toned him self down considerably from his previous acting work. As with all of Jackie's American movies, his fight scenes are no where near as insane as his Hong Kong ones. The action in RH2 is quite good and not overly done to drain the audience. Chan has these little bursts of amazing acrobatics that are great to see and since they don't happen too often in the film, it makes it more exciting when they do. The fights on the bamboo sticks and in the massage parlor are the best ones. When there isn't a battle going on, the comedic moments help keep the movie from slowing down. There are no real moments of down time. The supporting cast for this movie is great. John Lone plays Ricky Tan the evil head of the Triads who are dealing in counterfeit currency. He has not been around in a while and it is good to see this guy acting again. Lone walks through the part, but is good enough to get the job done in the role he is given. Roselyn Sanchez plays Isabella a mysterious femme fatale who Chan and Tucker are unsure of who side she is really on. Sanchez is an amazing site to see here. She doesn't do a whole lot, but her scene when she is under surveillance by Carter and Lee could have been disappointing, especially since this is a PG-13 film, but it delivers quite nicely on the peep scale. I love Snoopy tattoos. I will be looking for her next film. Ah, even though Sanchez is one of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen, she is no Zhang Ziyi. When I heard that the real star of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was going to be in this film, I got goosebumps. She has a presence on screen that is completely captivating. Ziyi plays the head henchwoman to John Lone and every scene she is in, she steals. Her part is fairly small, but she is spread out through the film with her screen time being less than 15 minutes. The trailers featured her prominently and showed most of the scenes she is in such as the "girl, you smell good" and "I'm going to give you and L.A.P.D. ass wupp - SMACK" bits. My only problem with her is that when she gets the chance to talk which is mostly in Chinese/Mandarin, you have to read her subtitles which takes time away from looking at her cute face. I may go see the movie again so I can just stare at her as she performs. She has only 3 words of english in this movie, but I loved the way she said them. I will never eat an apple the same way again. I dream of the chance to meet Miss Zhang someday, but alas, I doubt it will never happen. There is always my Crouching Tiger DVD that I can pause on her closeups. Sigh. There are a few cameos spread throughout the film, but the best one is by Don Cheadle as an informant for Tucker.  This guy is very underrated and may one day get the role that exposes him the masses.  Overall, Rush Hour 2 is an excellent film that makes up quite nicely for the relative crap being spewed out of Hollywood the last few weeks. I have nothing bad to say about this movie and it has an excellent chance of making my top five list of of best movies of 2001. Go see it. Final Review: 4 stars out of 5; 9 out of 10; A; thumbs up.

It has been an incredible week for hot babes in the movies. Rush Hour 2 had Zhang and Sanchez, and Gary Marshall has found this girl, Anne Hathaway to play the long lost Princess of Genovia. When I first saw the previews for Princess Diaries I immediately blew it off as another My Fair Lady/Pygmalion ripoff that has been done a million times in Clueless and She's All That. The eternal problem with all of these movies is the the frumpy girl is sometimes hot just as her ugly duckling self as she is when she is swanned out. So far, Heather Matarazzo still plays either the homely girl or the best friend. There was no way she was going to get the Princess part since I don't think the Hollywood make up artists think they can make her look pretty. That's too bad since Matarazzo is a good actress. Even so, she just plays the friend of Hathaway's Mia character. My problem with these movies still applies to this one since Hathaway still looks strangely attractive when her hair is all frizzed out and stumbling around the bleachers. The story that causes Mia Thermopolis to become a princess begins when Julie Andrews shows up and says it's time to take some etiquette lessons honey chil' cause yu gon' be representin' us blue bloods over 'n Genovia nation. I think she said it like that, but I don't know for sure since I have not seen the movie yet. It's been so long since Andrews has acted on screen I couldn't remember how she talked. The trailers show most of the movie and the entire makeover up to the big reveal. And what a reveal it is. When Hathaway smiles at that moment, I nearly fell in love. She looked great. Maxim would be proud. The other thing that makes me laugh every time I see it is when she is at a dinner party and a toast is about to be given and she breaks the glass with her spoon as she is tapping it. It's a stupid moment, but I chuckle for a good 15 seconds after I see it. This movie opened about $10 million more than anyone thought it would. It is a live action G-rated movie and that is more taboo than an R-rated teen sex comedy advertised on MTV's TRL. However, I could see that the marketing of the movie was done quite well by establishing the plot and the pratfall situations that would occur as she gets used to being a princess. The $22.8 million it made this weekend was expected by me. The rating means little if the plot looks like it will be interesting. The movie has classic formula of a story that has been told for centuries. Done well, and you can become rich. Hopefully this will make Hathaway a star and she will want to branch out to more adult roles in the future. Maybe when Drew, Cameron, and Lucy decide to quit the Charlie's Angels franchise, the producers can hire Anne Hathaway, Roselyn Sanchez, and Zhang Ziyi to replace them. Hoo ha. The perfect movie.

In today's "Box Office Death" report, we have charter members, Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie rolling around in hot tubs and beds with each other in Original Sin. Uh, no, not interested. Banderas has been in 3 moderately successful movies, Philadelphia, Mask of Zorro, and Spy Kids, as well as the big hit Interview with the Vampire. Three of those movies, he had nothing to do with in terms of their box office, and with MoZ he had the name of an icon and a young Catherine Zeta Jones as back up. Antonio's name on the marquis tends to keep people away and the fact that he married the Queen of BOD, Melanie Griffth, does not help either. Banderas is okay as an actor, but he is still trying to act through his accent which is hampering his appeal on screen. It also does not help that Chirs Katan on Saturday Night Live does my favorite celebrity impression of Banderas on his own talk show. It is hard to take him seriously, and in Original Sin he plays a complete idiot who gets a mail order bride that looks like Angelina Jolie and she turns out to be a psychopath. Jolie plays Julia, a manipulative golddigger out to swindle Banderas. Banderas' Luis Vargas character does not care because he gets to have sex with her anyway. He made his bed and she gets to lie in it, for a while at least. This movie did not appeal to a mass audience and is not getting good responses from the ones who have seen it. A period piece that takes place in the Cuba of the late 1800s has an uphill mountain to climb. More like K2 in December. Angelina Jolie is a very odd looking person. In some angles she is very attractive in others, all you see are those deformed lips of hers and her uncanny resemblance to Jon Voigt. Her personal life has also hurt her acting roles. Her tattoos are so large and personal that the writers either have to cover them up (poorly) or figure out a way to introduce someone named Billy Bob from her past that she felt compelled to permanently imprint on her shoulder. I can't wait for that to happen in a Jolie movie. They should do it in the next Tomb Raider since that big splotch on her arm in that movie was very disturbing to look at. Also, she has this huge cross on her stomach that is so large that it can't even be covered up and it prevents her from doing any below the navel nudity on film. With all that being widely known by people who would even care to see her in a movie, seeing that Original Sin takes place years before marking your skin was a mainstream activity, we wait for the big splotch moment in the love scenes. Most people would rather not see that. Either get an armband, a sleeve, or change the script to match your life next time Miss Thorton. Original Sin had some ratings board trouble for their explicit "it's just acting" love scenes. Looks like OS may be a good Special Edition Director's Cut DVD in 4 months.

1. Planet of the Apes had a large dropoff this week, but considering it made nearly $70 million last week, $27 million is not that bad.

2. The ending of POTA still confuses people, but the answer is very simple.

3. Thade gets out of the space ship and is pissed is basically what the ending comes down to.

4. You realize that Tea Leoni's Jurassic Park 3 has almost earned more money than all of her husband, David Duchovny's last 5 movies combined.

5. Billy Crystal finds it neither funny or fun that his America's Sweethearts has not made over a $100 million yet.

6. To the critics, Crystal says that they can take their bad reviews and take them back to their publisher and stick them right up the freaking butt.

7. MGM has greenlighted work to eventually begin on the sequel to Legally Blonde.

8. The award for dumbest crook that thinks he is brilliant goes to Edward Norton's character in the last 10 mintues of The Score.

9. I am very pleased that Dr. Doolittle 2 has shown all those who doubted its worth that it still appealed to a good chunk of people.

10. This should be the last of Cats and Dogs in the top ten as this potential mega hit has fizzled a bit at the box office.

American Pie 1 in 1999 was my vote for best picture of that year. American Pie 2 is my vote for most dreaded film of 2001. I will see it, but I am afraid that it may fail to be even half of what the original was. I hope I am wrong. The sequel has a rough road ahead as it tries to beat Rush Hour 2 next week at the box office.  Nicole Kidman returns with a gothic horror mystery produced by her ex husband called The Others.  The preview is strange, but fairly creepy.  It may do better than Moulin Rouge.  The Farelly Brothers are back with their half animated feature Osmosis Jones about the battle that goes in our bodies everyday fighting the crimelords known as bacteria.   And this just in, George Lucas has decided on a subtitle for the next Star Wars Movie. It will be called STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES. Umm, yeah, I can dig it. Bye for now.