The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I, as expected, held on to the top spot for a second-straight weekend, but also as expected, it tumbled from its' huge opening last weekend. Plunging 70% from last weekend, the first part of the penultimate Twilight book earned $41.7 million over three days, for a second weekend per-theater average of an excellent $10,252 from around 7,200 screens at 4,061 theaters. Over the five-day extended holiday, the film earned $61.9 million, for an overall drop of 55% from the last frame and a 10-day total of $220.8 million. I didn't mention this last weekend, but the latest Twilight film became the years' 26th film of the year to cross the $100 million mark domestically last Saturday. But back to this weekend, the first part of the final book has fallen behind New Moon and Eclipse through the same point, as the former had $230 million through the same amount of time. That's a bit alarming, but a final gross in the $275-$280 million range still would be impressive enough since its' a rarity for fourquels to ever even come close to its' predecessors.
While Twilight dominated, there was another flick that succeeded in connecting with audiences. Disney's revival of The Muppets was able to score the eighth-biggest Thanksgiving launch yet, earning $29.2 million over the three-day period, for a per-theater average of a good $8,500 from around 4,600 screens at 3,440 theaters and grossed $41.5 million for the five-day extended weekend. Disney now holds nine of the Top 10 biggest Thanksgiving openings ever, and this one is just the latest success story. Jim Henson's classic characters have been off the screen for over a decade, after the financial failure of Muppets from Space in 1999. Fortunately, this film has eclipsed the entire runs of all previous Muppet movies to date, with the exception of 1979's The Muppet Movie (due to ticket price inflation, so attendance is behind most movies except for Space). Disney produced the film for a modest $45 million and the huge gross benefited to an impressive marketing and promotional campaign that included parodies of other movies and the nostalgia factor of adults that grew up with The Muppet Show. And with universal critical acclaim (98% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a positive review) and audiences giving it positive word-of-mouth ("A" CinemaScore grade), it should do huge business over the Christmas season.
Following its' disappointing debut last week, Happy Feet Two continued to fall further behind its' predecessor, and fell 37% in its' second weekend in the face of much more competition, grossing $13.4 million in third place for the three-day and $18.4 million over the five-day period, which is actually down just 14% from the last frame. The 3-D animated film has earned $43.8 million in 10 days, about 56% behind the original Happy Feet, and will mostlikely not reach the $100 million mark before its' all said and done. The good news is that overseas grosses may help turn a mild profit.
The next strongest release, Arthur Christmas had to settle for fourth place on the weekend. The Christmas-themed 3-D animated film earned $12.1 million over three days, for a per-theater average of a mild $3,575 from around 5,600 screens at 3,376 theater. 3-D showings accounted for 53 percent of business and over the five-day period, it earned $16.3 million. That's a notable performance considering the fact that it was competing against other family fare that had stronger appeal, but it was the least-grossing start for a film produced by Aardman Studios. It also was on the low-end for a 3D-released animated film as well as a Sony Pictures Animation film and animation this year (its' only ahead of Winnie The Pooh, Mars Needs Moms, and Hoodwinked Too! in terms of opening weekend grosses). However, it's the best-reviewed animated film this year (at 92% of reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes being positive) and audiences were just as positive towards it ("A-" CinemaScore grade). Add in the fact that Christmas movies tend to see broad playability, and Arthur could make up some lost ground in the next four weeks until the Christmas holiday, but it might be impossible for it to beat its' expensive $100 million budget stateside.
The last major release, acclaimed director Martin Scorcese's 3-D adventure Hugo performed in line with expectations, earning $11.4 million over the three-day weekend, for a per-theater average of a great $8,899 from just 1,277 theaters and earning a higher per-theater average than its' other two competitors. 3-D accounted for a rough 76 percent of business and for the five-day Thanksgiving holiday, it earned $15.4 million. That's the third-highest opening for Scorcese's directorial career, behind Shutter Island and The Departed. Unfortunately for the 3-D adventure, which has recieved acclaim from critics (97% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a positive review), it was produced for around $150 million, a number that the film will be lucky to cover half of by the time its' run is over. But, it does give distributor Paramount Pictures some confidence that they can expand it throughout the next month. If it can get signifigant award season attention, then this may be a huge surprise over the Christmas season.
Adam Sandler's family comedy Jack & Jill was relatively unaffected by the onslaught of competition. Easing a light 15% to sixth and $10 million over the three-day weekend. It also earned $13.8 million over the extended holiday, and has earned $57.1 million in 17 days. Looks like it has a shot at breaking even at its' $80 million budget before its' all said and done. Greek war epic Immortals surprisingly held its' own over Thanksgiving despite Twilight still being around, with a 28% drop over the three-day frame to seventh place and $8.9 million. It also earned $12.6 million over the five-day period, for a $68.7 milliion tally in 17 days. It will also be heading for an $80 million finish.
DreamWorks Animation's Puss in Boots continued to thrive even with five other competitors, with a 31% drop over the three-day weekend to $7.5 million, and $10.4 million over the extended period for a $135.4 million pick-up in one month of release. It has gone past MegaMind through the same point and will mostlikely close ahead of that films' $148.4 million total. George Clooney's The Descendants expanded to 433 theaters and jumped up to ninth place, grossed a huge $7.3 million over three days, for a per-theater average of a mammoth $18,835. It earned $9.4 million over five days (ranking in tenth place over the five-day) and has a 10-day total of $10.7 million. Distributor Fox Searchlight is expanding it to wide release within the next two weeks.
Tower Heist rounded out the Top 10 in its' fourth weekend (ninth place on the five-day) and gained some ground back over the holiday weekend. It gained 3% from last frame to $7.1 million over the three-day weekend and $10 million over the extended period for a $65.2 million tally in 24 days.
Overall box office was down 11% from the same period last year when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I topped the box office for a second-straight frame, with a 61% depletion to $49.1 million over the three-day and $75 million over the five-day extended period, for a $219.1 million tally in 10 days. Disney's 50th animated feature Tangled, debuted just $300,000 behind Potter for second place on the three-day period, grossing an unexpectedly strong $48.8 million, for a huge $68.7 million total in its' first five days. The animated blockbuster would play well into January and would go on to gross over $200 million domestically and nearly $600 million worldwide, ranking as the eighth biggest film of 2010. DreamWorks Animation's MegaMind followed in a distant third with a 22% slip in its' fourth frame to $12.6 million over the three day and $17.5 million over the five-day frame. Musical dance comedy Burlesque debuted with dismal results in fourth place with $11.9 million in three days and $17.3 million in five, on its' way to just under $40 million domestically and $90 million worldwide. Unstoppable rounded out the Top 5 with a 12% slip to $11.4 million in three days and $15.9 million in five. The two other new releases followed in sixth and seventh places, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway romance comedy Love and Other Drugs and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson action flick Faster, which earned $9.7 million and $8.5 million in three days and $13.9 million and $12 million in five. They both would go on to gross $32 million and $23 million.
Here is the final 3-day and 5-day Top 10:
3-day numbers:
# Movie 3-Day Final Number 3-Day Estimate My 3-Day Prediction
1 The Twilight Saga: $41,683,574 $42,300,000 $55,000,000
Breaking Dawn Part I
2 The Muppets $29,239,026 $29,500,000 $26,000,000
3 Happy Feet Two $13,397,346 $13,400,000 $15,500,000
4 Arthur Christmas $12,068,931 $12,700,000 $17,000,000
5 Hugo $11,364,505 $11,350,000 $10,000,000
6 Jack & Jill $10,000,142 $10,300,000 $9,500,000
7 Immortals $8,875,905 $8,800,000 $6,800,000
8 Puss in Boots $7,511,036 $7,450,000 $7,500,000
9 The Descendants $7,345,720 $7,200,000 $5,000,000
10 Tower Heist $7,174,615 $7,323,000 ----
5-day numbers:
# Movie 5-Day Final Number 5-Day Estimate My 5-Day Prediction
1 The Twilight Saga: $61,853,847 $62,300,000 $70,000,000
Breaking Dawn Part I
2 The Muppets $41,516,691 $42,000,000 $33,000,000
3 Happy Feet Two $18,351,970 $18,400,000 $21,000,000
4 Arthur Christmas $16,301,131 $17,000,000 $24,000,000
5 Hugo $15,402,042 $15,375,000 $15,000,000
6 Jack & Jill $13,812,944 $14,100,000 $13,000,000
7 Immortals $12,604,881 $12,500,000 $9,500,000
8 Puss in Boots $10,446,739 $10,400,000 $10,500,000
9 Tower Heist $10,012,075 $10,300,000 ----
10 The Descendants $9,381,058 $9,180,000 $7,000,000
