Since I won't be doing a Friday report, I thought I would report with early Wednesday numbers...but box office looks to be up from last years' weak frame...
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol started off strongly with $8.9 million from 3,440 theaters. That was a stronger Wednesday pre-Christmas start than last years' Meet The Parents Threequel and True Grit. With glowing reviews (at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes), Mission will likely see a similar number on Thursday before bumping up to $13-$14 million on Friday. With Christmas Eve being a dead zone, Saturday will drop hard before getting a slight bump on Sunday, so a $32 million 3-day will likely result, with $49 million over five days and $66 million since its' IMAX release.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo followed in second with a strong $5.1 million, which is a very strong number for a movie of its' dark genre. With positive reviews and good critical reception, the film will see similar numbers on Thursday, before going up to around $8-$9 million on Friday, on its' way to a $21 million 3-day, for a $32 million tally since Wednesday.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows took a slight hit in third, easing just 17% to $4.3 million, for a modest $54 million tally in just six days. While that is far behind the original through the same point, this hold indicates that the film is not being really affected by all the new competition, and that it is due for a great hold this weekend. Perhaps a $23-$25 million weekend might result.
Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked was relatively unaffected by the new competition, and actually was flat with Tuesday, grossing another $3.5 million, for a $33 million tally in six days. This also indicates that the threequel will see a nice hold over the weekend, with about $15-$16 million looking in range. Both sequels are looking to make up serious ground over next week.
Debuting somewhat slow in a distant fifth place, Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin earned $2.3 million on Wednesday, or around the same as Arthur Christmas' first Wednesday in theaters, but that was Thanksgiving week, whereas Tintin will likely recieve a bump on Thursday, and gross about $5-$6 million on Friday, on its' way to a $15 million 3-day and $21 million 4-day.
New Year's Eve ($1.1 million, $28.2 million 12-day total), Arthur Christmas ($667,000, $40.6 million 29-day total), The Muppets ($586,000, $72.8 million 29-day total), The Sitter ($554,000, $19.9 million 12-day total), and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I ($515,000, $268.2 million 36-day total) round out the Top 10.
