For the first time in movie history, two films opening on the same weekend have each grossed more than $30 million, studio estimates indicated on Sunday.?The 19th James Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough earned about $37.2 million and Sleepy Hollow brought in $30.5 million, according to box-office trackers Exhibitor Relations.?The huge weekend audience again indicated that the size of the film audience, which had remained static for years, is now expanding rapidly.?Earlier this month, industry analysts said that they expected the total box office take for the year would exceed $7.4 billion.?But, with last week's success of the new Pok?mon the First Movie (it has now grossed $68.2 million), combined with this week's boost in business (25 percent above the same weekend a year ago), the total could go higher.?The take for the 007 film represented the biggest opening gross for a Bond film in history (it was also the biggest opening for any MGM film), outshining last year's Tomorrow Never Dies.?MGM distribution chief Larry Gleason told today's (Monday) USA Today, "James Bond just seems to be getting more popular with each new film.?It has almost become a national institution.?
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