"THE RETURN OF THE KING" RULES THE BOX-OFFICE January 15, 2004 J.R.R. Tolkien's famed trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings," took a bow with a big bang, with its third and final installment opening with $34.1 million on its first day, and an opening weekend of $72 million. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" became the fourth fastest movie to reach the $100 million mark and is projected to be the second movie to earn $ 1 billion after "Titanic." The Peter Jackson-megged epic has earned more than $700 million worldwide to date. "The Return of the King" follows the journey of the shattered Fellowship, with Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) reuniting with the hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd). Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) continue their journey to Mordor, guided by the treacherous Gollum (Andy Serkis). The Kingdom of Gondor is under attack by the forces of Mordor, and the Fellowship, along with the King of Rohan (Bernard Hill), his niece Éowyn (Miranda Otto) and nephew Éomer (Karl Urban) band together with the guidance of Elrond (Hugo Weaving), Celeborn (Marton Csokas) and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) to assist Gondor in defeating the forces of the dark lord Sauron. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" also returns the characters of Arwen (Liv Tyler), Faramir (David Wenham), Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) and Boromir (Sean Bean). John Noble plays the Gondor ruler Denethor, father of Faramir and the slain Boromir. X-MEN TOPS BOX-OFFICE May 5, 2003 As expected, "X-2: X-Men United," the sequel to 2000's box-office hit "X-Men" broke box-office records when it was released last Friday on several countries, edging out previous top spot holder "Identity," a thriller starring John Cusack. After three days on release worldwide, "X-2" took in $155.2 million in box-office receipts. It grossed $85.9 million across the United States and Canada, and $69.3 million in 93 countries, making it the biggest launch in movie history. "X-2" begins where its predecessor left off, with mutant leader Magneto (Ian McKellen) imprisoned in a plastic cage. A teleporting mutant, Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), launches an attack on the White House -- and the US President himself -- prompting anti-mutant crusader William Stryker (Brian Cox) to invade Professor Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) X-Mansion, which also serves as an exclusive school for young mutants. The attack draws Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back to the X-Mansion, where he reunites with old pals Storm (Halle Berry), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), Cyclops (James Marsden) and Rogue (Anna Paquin) and former enemies Magneto and the shape-shifting Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) in order to stop Stryker and his assistant Yuriko Oyama (Kelly Hu) from using Professor Xavier's very own Cerebro into pinpointing every single mutant in the planet and destroying them. Also returning to the series are Shawn Ashmore as Iceman and Bruce Davison as Senator Kelly. Joining the cast as Professor X's students are Aaron Stanford as the fire-wielding Pyro, Kea Wong (replacing Katrina Florece of "X-Men") as Jubilee, Katie Stuart as Kitty Pryde (payed by Sumela Kay in "X-Men"), Daniel Cudmore as Colossus and Shauna Kain as Siryn. Before "X-2" opened, James Mangold's Agatha Christie-type thriller "Identity" ruled the box-office. The movie stars John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Clea DuVall, Amanda Peet, Rebecca DeMornay and William Lee Scott as strangers stranded in a motel who later realize that one of them is a killer. "BUFFY" SAYS GOODBYE March 5, 2003 "Buffy, in this incarnation, is over." Those were the words of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar in her interview with Entertainment Weekly for the magazine's March 7 issue. After seven years on the tube -- five on The WB and the last two on UPN -- "Buffy" will cease to exist. Gellar will leave the show to pursue a movie career. During her "Buffy" stint, Gellar has had a taste of movie success when she hit box-office gold with starring roles in four films: "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "Scream 2," "Cruel Intentions" and "Scooby-Doo." "Buffy" became an instant cult sensation when it began in 1997 with Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Stewart Head and David Boreanaz. Now, it's also receiving critical accolades. Boreanaz left the show on its second season to star in his own series -- the "Buffy" spin-off "Angel," which is on its fourth year. Gellar, Hannigan and Brendon are the only cast members who have been with the series since the beginning. They are currently joined by James Marsters, Michelle Trachtenberg and Emma Caulfield. "Buffy" creator Joss Wheadon is developing a spin-off that may involve current "Buffy" regulars and Gellar has promised to make occasional guest appearances. "Buffy" will rightfully end with a bang befitting its critical and cult hit status -- a five-episode arc that will see the return of Faith (Eliza Dushku), some surprise deaths, and in the last episode, an appearance by Angel (Boreanaz). "LOTR" STARS IN ANOTHER EPIC ADVENTURE February 26, 2003 "The Lord of the Rings" stars Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean will reunite for yet another epic adventure when they join Brad Pitt and an all-star cast in Wolfgang Petersen's "Troy." Bloom will once again display Legolas's archery skills in his role as Paris, the Trojan prince who starts the war by abducting Helen, wife of the Spartan king Menelaus (Irish actor Brendan Gleeson). Bean, who played the slain warrior Boromir in "The Fellowship of the Ring," will play wily Greek hero Odysseus, who is drafted along with Achilles (Pitt) into the army led by Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon ("The Ring"'s Brian Cox) to attack Troy. The ensemble also includes Peter O'Toole as Priam, the Trojan king and father to Paris and Hector ("The Hulk"'s Eric Bana), rival of Achilles; Julie Christie, who will play Thetis, the nymph who is Achilles' mother, and who missed a crucial spot when dipping her infant son into the waters of immortality; Saffron Burrows ("Deep Blue Sea") as Hector's wife, Andromache, and Australian star Rose Byrne (Amidala's handmaiden in "Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones") as Briseis, the captive Trojan woman who comes between Agamemnon and Achilles. Production begins in April, with locations in Morocco and Malta. "THE TWO TOWERS" OPENS TODAY December 18, 2002 After a year-long wait, fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" will have a lot of rejoicing to do when the much-anticipated "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" opens today. The second installment of the trilogy follows the journey of the surviving members of the fellowship of the ring. With the fall of Boromir, the fellowship is splintered. Merry and Pippin have fallen into the hands of the ferocious Uruk-hai, with Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas closely tracking them. As Gandalf returns in a more powerful form, Frodo and his loyal servant Sam continue their journey, where they meet the gangly creature Gollum who offers to become their guide. Returning to the series are Viggo Mortensen as the heroic Aragorn, Elijah Wood as the brave hobbit Frodo Baggins and Sean Astin as Sam. Ian McKellen is also back from "The Fellowship of the Ring" as the wizard Gandalf, along with Orlando Bloom as elf-prince Legolas, John Rhys-Davies as the dwarf Gimli, Cate Blanchett as elf-queen Galadriel, Liv Tyler as Aragon's beloved elf Arwen, Hugo Weaving as her father Elrond, Andy Serkis as the voice of the wily Gollum, Craig Parker as elf captain Haldir, Christopher Lee as the evil wizard Saruman and Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd as Merry and Pippin, Frodo's hobbit-friends. Joining the cast are Bernard Hill as the beseiged Rohan ruler King Theoden, Karl Urban as his loyal nephew Éomer, Miranda Otto as his niece Éowyn and David Wenham as Boromir's (Sean Bean) brother Faramir, who is equally vulnerable to the One Ring. October 23, 2002 Welcome to the new site. First launched online in March last year, Hot Hollywood, which features some of Hollywood's movers and shakers, was given a new look and color scheme.

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