IN THE fantasy film world, the biggest battle of the sequels is about to start and, despite not opening for another three weeks, Lord of the Rings is set to beat Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, which opened last week, is forecast to take between 212 million dollars and 218 million dollars in its first month of screening in the US. Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers is predicted to take between 236 million and 242 million dollars in its first four weeks, which spreads over the Christmas holiday. That would better the original Lord of the Rings movie.

The success of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets is amazing, especially when the performance of sequels never usually do aswell as the original. Never before has a sequel performed so well, so it will take some beating. However, Lord of the Rings could outperform it.

Chamber of Secrets became the third-best opening film of all time when it took 88.4 million dollars in its first weekend. The first film, The Philosopher's Stone, is in second place taking 90.3 million dollars in its first weekend. Aimed at a slightly older audience, the Lord of the Rings films do not have the same pull - the first episode took only 47 million dollars in its first weekend.

Did you know the James Bond movie 'Die Another Day' is forecast to collect little more than half their takings in its first four weeks, this just shows how mega 'Harry Potter' and 'The Lord of the Rings' really are.

One company that is on to a winner whether it is Frodo or Harry that makes the biggest impact at the box office is AOL Time Warner - it made both of the movies.