LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The movies were off to the races on Friday with two films vying to win the weekend box office race and one, "Seabiscuit," galloping toward a more glorious Hollywood reward -- an Oscar.

Rivals "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" and "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" each open in around 3300 theaters, giving them a box office head start on "Seabiscuit," the story of the famed race horse and its backers. It debuts in just under 2000 venues.

The sheer of number of available seats for its competitors handicaps "Seabiscuit" in the weekend box office sweepstakes.

However, its distributors at Universal Studios hope to keep "Seabiscuit" in theaters through Fall when Oscar buzz heats up. Fewer theaters now could help it play strongly through August, whereas the 3000-plus theater openers generally start fast, yet fall off the pace, quickly.

The movie covers Seabiscuit's promising start as the offspring of the mighty Man o' War to years when he was whipped abusively. It tells of the crooked leg that made the horse an unlikely champion and the three men whose love and training eventually helped put Seabiscuit in the winner's circle time and again.

The film, which is based on the best-selling book by Laura Hillenbrand, focuses on how the men -- owner Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges), trainer Tom Smith (Chris Cooper) and jockey Johnny "Red" Pollard (Tobey Maguire) -- overcame their own obstacles by shepherding the horse to victory.

"This isn't a movie about horses. This is a movie about people," said director Gary Ross.

RACE FOR OSCAR GOLD

Still, the racing scenes have thrilled audiences in early screenings, and instead of producing them using only computer generated images -- the trend in Hollywood -- Ross filmed real races with real horses and real jockeys, including champions Gary Stevens and Chris McCarron.

"I didn't have to heighten reality," said Ross. "The reality of horse racing is dangerous and exciting, enough."

While "Seabiscuit," is an early pick in Hollywood to be in the 2003 Oscar race, Ross shies away from such talk.

"It's an award someone should give you, it's not something you should pursue," he said.

"Seabiscuit" is rated PG-13 for some sexual situations and violent images.

Meanwhile the "Lara Croft" movie, with Angelina Jolie again in the title role of the beautiful British archeologist with an adventurous spirit, will likely please fans of both the "Tomb Raider" video games and its movie predecessor, "Lara Croft Tomb Raider."

In "Cradle of Life" Lara is on the hunt for the mythical Pandora's Box, which legend says contains a plague that can destroy mankind. An evil genetic engineer is in a race to get the box before Lara, and she is out to stop him.

There is romance in Lara's involvement with an old flame who aids her, Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler). But more important, there is a lot of action. Lara battles bad guys under water, in the air, on land and deep inside Earth.

"The movie is rated PG-13 for action, violence and some sensuality.

Finally, "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" returns the two preteen kids Juni (Daryl Sabara) and Carmen Cortez (Alexa Vega) in an adventure aimed at kids and families.

The gadget-crazed Cortez siblings travel inside a three-dimensional video game where they face bigger and bigger challenges in their attempt to capture a villain bent on world destruction, "The Toymaker," played by Sylvester Stallone.