TRAFFIC RUNS OVER LEADERS
Meanwhile, after an astounding performance last week in limited release, Steven Soderbergh's critically praised Traffic moved into 1,510 theaters and earned $14.9 million to take third place in the box-office standings.

Its per-theater take of $9,891 exceeded that of Cast Away ($8,167) and What Women Want ($5,079) which played on 2,948 screens and 3,052 screens respectively. Nevertheless, Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, released by Sony Pictures Classics, remained the per-theater champ. Playing on only 173 screens, the film earned an estimated $3.7 million, or an average of $21,665 per theater. The top 12 films earned a combined total of $106.2 million, up 31 percent from the same weekend a year ago.


The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. Cast Away, $24.1 million; 2. What Women Want, $15.5 million; 3. Traffic, $14.9 million; 4. Miss Congeniality, $13.8 million; 5. The Family Man, $9.2 million; 6. The Emperor's New Groove, $7 million; 7. Vertical Limit, $5 million; 8. Wes Craven Presents Dracula 2000, $4.2 million; 9. Dude, Where's My Car?, $3.8 million; 10. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, $3.7 million.

Source: Studio Briefing