The Mouse That Roared

Other new releases weren't nearly the Big Cheese that ''Stuart Little'' was. ''Bicentennial Man'' only rallied to fourth place (tied with ''Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'') with $8.3 million, behind ''Toy Story 2,'' which took in $12.1 million (total so far: $156.3 million). Williams may have pushed his goofy-yet-dewy-eyed persona too far with this one, considering ''Bicentennial Man'' is his second-lowest debut since 1992's ''Toys.'' (''Jakob the Liar'' opened with only $2.1 million in September.)

Then there was ''Anna and the King,'' which bowed in only sixth place with $5.1 million, perhaps hampered by mediocre reviews, a story line people had seen before, no buzz, etcetera, etcetera. Meanwhile, a handful of Oscar contenders continues to simmer powerfully in limited release before going wide in January. With a three-hour-plus running time that would make James Cameron call for cuts, ''Magnolia'' (which goes wide on Jan. 7) took in $184,000 on seven screens -- a $26,286 average. And Mike Leigh's ''Topsy-Turvy'' -- just named Best Picture by the New York Film Critics Circle -- opened with $29,891 on two screens, and will expand on Jan. 14.