Mission Accomplished. After seeing a good debut over the Christmas frame, Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol was able to keep the top spot. As all films usually increase over New Year's, the film held about even to $29.4 million for the three-day ($8,516 average from 3,455 theaters), and $38.2 million over the extended frame for a solid $141.2 million tally in just 18 days (including its' IMAX opening). On Sunday, the film has beaten the final domestic gross of Mission Impossible III, and gives it a solid chance at beating the first Mission: Impossible's $181 million tally, though the attendance won't be close to the previous films. But still, it has a solid chance at reaching the $200 million mark by the time it leaves theaters, way above expectations and overseas grosses have already pushed it past the $300 million mark.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows held on to the second spot and began to close the gap between it and its' predecessor by seeing much better sustainability. Improving three percent to $20.9 million, the film raked in $26.9 million over the extended period and has earned a solid $136.9 million tally in 18 days. But it is still behind the first films' $166 million tally in the same amount of time. With it having a nine-day advantage, the gap will continue to close, but the film will not make it to the $200 million mark, as around $175 million is looking more likely, with overseas grosses looking much more promising.
Family movies get the best bumps over the New Year's holiday, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked was no different as it held the bronze medal for a third-straight week. The talking-animal caper improved 30% to $16.4 million over the three-day and $21.5 million over the four-day for a solid $97.8 million tally in 18 days. While the jump wasn't as high as Yogi Bear's was, it still was notable considering the amount of competition on the market. The film will cross the $100 million mark later this week and while it has made up ground, it still has only made two-thirds of the original Alvin and the Chipmunks. With that in mind, the film may leave theaters with around $130 million.
Following its' slightly disappointing debut last weekend, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo did solidly despite being a dark thriller, jumping up 16% to $14.8 million over the three-day period and $19.2 million over the extended weekend. The critically-adored foreign book adaption has earned a solid $60 million in 13 days and is headed for around $90 million domestically, with the $100 million mark still a possibility.
After an impressive Christmas Day, Steven Spielberg's war drama War Horse surprised the industry by actually improving on New Year's Eve and Day. And while it was overestimated, it grossed $14.4 million over the three-day and jumping up to the fourth spot ($5,663 average from 2,547 theaters). The war drama took in $18.1 million over the four-day period and has earned an impressive $44.1 million in just eight days. Positive word-of-mouth could guide this to a $85-$90 million finish.
Another film that benefited from positive word-of-mouth, We Bought A Zoo held onto the sixth spot and jumped up an impressive 41% from its' lackluster opening to $13.2 million over the three-day and $17 million over the four-day, for a $44.5 million tally in 10 days. The film should continue to play well into January and could finish as high as $75 million on the domestic front.
Sliding to seventh, Steven Spielberg's other holiday flick, The Adventures of Tintin saw a decent bump, but not as strong as majority of the others. The animated adventure advanced 16% to $11.4 million over the three-day, and $15.4 million over the four-day for a $51.4 million tally in 12 days. Based on recent trajectories, the film is headed for a $85 million domestic finish. That's not an impressive number stateside, but the film has also grossed nearly $300 million worldwide, which should be enough to have Spielberg continue on with his plans for the franchise.
Seeing the biggest jump out of all the movies, New Year's Eve took advantage of its' namesake holiday on Saturday and nearly doubled its' gross from last weekend. The ensemble romance comedy held the eighth spot and improved 91%, grossing $6.3 million over the traditional weekend at $7.6 million over the four-day, for a modest $47.3 million gross in 24 days. With the holiday over, and then it should fall hard in the coming weeks to finish in the $50-$55 million range, roughly half of Valentine's Day's $110 million final gross, but certainly showing much more sustainability.
Out of all the Christmas releases, The Darkest Hour fared the worst. While it did advance 39% from its' $3 million Christmas Day start, the film only earned $4.2 million over the three-day period ($1,789 average from 2,327 theaters), and $5.2 million over the extended period for a stale $14.2 million tally in eight days. The film will likely crash to a $20 million finish domestically. The good news is that it is showing some solid results overseas, with already close to $10 million internationally in just two weeks.
George Clooney's The Descendants rounded out the Top 10 (climbing from the 13th spot last weekend) with a huge 63% spike to $3.3 million over the three-day and $4.2 million over the four-day, for a $40.3 million tally in seven weekends. The film should continue to see solid business through awards season and could gross as much as $80 million by the time its' all said and done.
Outside the Top 10, The Muppets saw a modest bump, up 24% to $2.7 million over the three-day and $3.7 million over the four-day, for a $83.6 million tally in 40 days. Disney's revival of Jim Henson's characters should close right at the $90 million mark. Martin Scorcese's Hugo advanced 16% to $2.5 million over the three-day and $3.3 million over the four-day, for a domestic total of $50.3 million in the same amount of time, on its' way to $55-$60 million with an awards season boost.
Overall box office was up one percent from the same time last year when Meet The Parents Threequel and True Grit were much closer than last frame in first and second places, with grosses of $25.8 million and $24.4 million, down 16% and 2% from their opening frames. Tron: Legacy followed in third with a 2% decline with $18.8 million, while Yogi Bear jumped up 57% to $12.4 million and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader rounded out the Top 5, improving 8% to $10.3 million. Rounding out the Top 10 were The Fighter (up 32% to $10 million), Tangled (up 53% to $9.8 million), Gulliver's Travels (up 47% to $9.3 million), Black Swan (up 42% to $8.9 million), and The King's Speech (up 73% to $7.8 million).
Box office for 2011 ended at $10.21 billion, down 3.4% from 2010's $10.55 billion and 3.7% from 2009's record $10.58 billion. While it is the third consecutive year to cross the $10 billion mark, 2011 marked the least-attended box office year since 1996, as its' 1.28 billion consumers was down 4.2% from 2010's 1.34 billion. But it wasn't all bad, for the first time, three movies crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide, and box office hit an all-time high internationally. Hopefully the tides will turn in 2012...
Graphs will return next weekend...
