"Kong" is box-office king with $50.1 million weekend debu

"King Kong" was not the 900-pound box-office gorilla Hollywood expected during its opening weekend, debuting with a merely respectable $50.1 million (Ђ41.8 million) and leaving the studio pinning its hopes on the film's possible long-term staying power.

In its first five days since premiering Wednesday, &to=http://english.pravda.ru/society/2003/01/10/41876.html' target=_blank>Peter Jackson's remake of the great-ape adventure took in $66.2 million (Ђ55.3 million). Some box-office analysts had predicted "King Kong" would gross at least $60 million (Ђ50.1 million) during its opening weekend and as much as $100 million (Ђ83.5 million) in its first five days.