The abject failure of three Thanksgiving weekend releases and the disappointing debut of at least one other newcomer were offset by gains among some holdovers at the box office. In one of the tightest races of the year, the 2-week-old James Bond action film, "Die Another Day," fought to top the chart again opposite the 3-week-old "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." "Die" fared better Wednesday and Thursday, but "Potter" took the reins from Friday on. Measuring only the Friday-to-Sunday portion of the holiday weekend locally, "Potter" is the clean champion. Business was off only 7 percent in its third round. (It would have won here even with Wednesday and Thursday figured in.) "Die" is a rugged second, off 30 percent from a gangbusters start. Despite the arrival of two animated movies, the 5-week-old "Santa Clause 2" turned out to be the clutch hitter of the weekend, climbing 57 percent from the previous frame. It's No. 3 everywhere. Disney's animated "Treasure Planet" is performing far below the norm for a Disney year-end cartoon feature. It's No. 4 here and across the country. The crude PG-13-rated Adam Sandler cartoon feature "8 Crazy Nights" premieres in fifth place on both charts. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" climbs 23 percent in its 26th week locally and holds on to sixth place. "Friday After Next" drops 41 percent in its second week and lands in seventh place here. The rap drama "8 Mile" grabs eighth place, down 12 percent. "They" debuts in ninth place locally en route to the box-office boneyard. "The Ring" captures 10th place with a 1 percent increase in attendance. Steven Soderbergh's outer-space romance "Solaris," with George Clooney, detonates with an 11th-place debut here despite being on a dozen screens. Doing even worse is "Extreme Ops," which opens in 14th place on 11 screens. Conversely, attendance for "The Emperor's Club" climbed almost everywhere in the second week — up 23 percent here, but because the Kevin Kline drama is on only 811 screens nationally and just four here, it slipped out of the top 10. Slated to open here Friday are "Analyze That," "Equilibrium," "Empire," "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," "Shanghai Ghetto" and possibly "The Grey Zone."

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