Sony's 'Big Fish' box office tale unravels

Posted Tuesday, January 13, 2004 at 11:36 AM Central

by John Couture

When this past weekend's box office estimates were released Sunday, New Line was surprised to see that Sony Pictures' Big Fish had knocked its Return Of The King from the top spot. Big Fish, a serious Oscar contender about a man known for telling tall tales trying to reconnect with his son, was initially reported by Sony as having made $14.5 million to Return Of The King's $14.2 million.

The Sunday estimates are just that, the individul studios take the actual receipts from Friday and Saturday and estimate the final day's number to get their weekend take. Many times, the actual numbers fluctuate up and down from the estimates, but hardly ever does the #1 movie get bumped.