Hannibal Reaches 100 Million

MGM's "Hannibal" will crack the $100 million mark in North America on Saturday or Sunday and become the first film released this year to reach that boxoffice milestone.

If "Hannibal" crosses that line Saturday, it will be on its ninth day of release, tying Universal's "Jurassic Park" as the seventh-fastest to reach $100 million at the boxoffice.

If the Ridley Scott-helmed film crests that level Sunday, it will be its 10th day of release and tie it as the eighth-fastest with Warner Bros.' "Batman," "Batman Forever" and "The Perfect Storm," New Line's "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and 20th Century Fox's "Cast Away."

In its meteoric rise at the boxoffice, "Hannibal" has joined another exclusive club: Its opening-weekend single-day gross on Saturday, Feb. 10, was the fifth-biggest in history, at $23.5 million. Fox's "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" owns the first and fourth spots, with $28.5 million and $24.4 million, respectively. Universal's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" holds the second and third slots, with $26.1 million and $24.44 million, respectively.

The move of "Hannibal" into the fifth slot in single-day grosses bumped Universal's "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" down a notch to sixth. The green one's Saturday gross tallied $22.7 million during its debut weekend.