Like its' predecessor before it, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part II remained on top for a third-straight weekend, down 60% to $17.4 million, for a $254.5 million gross in 17 days. That's the highest-grossing third weekend for a Twilight movie to date, and indicates that this movie is getting more positive word-of-mouth. Thanks to the slightly stronger holds, Part II is now tracking $8 million ahead of its' predecessor and is less than $1 million ahead of New Moon. Provided that it isn't thrashed by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Part II still stands a chance at reaching $300 million stateside. It has picked up over $700 million worldwide as of now, with much more to go.Skyfall repeated in second place, and was much closer to Twilight this time around. The James Bond phenomenon was down a lighter 53% to $16.6 million, for a 17-day tally of a massive $245.6 million. $300 million now seems like a long shot for this Bond, but its' still not impossible (if it plays until after New Year's). The movie has earned over $850 million worldwide, and will pass Ice Age: Continental Drift to take third place for 2012 worldwide within the next week. With no new releases with strong potential coming next weekend, Skyfall could take the top spot next weekend.
Following its' disappointing debut last weekend, tides began to turn for DreamWorks' Rise of the Guardians, which jumped up to the third spot, easing a Top 10-best 44% to $13.389 million. That was a great hold considering that family movies usually have harsh drops during this time. Comparing other movies, Guardians held on better than Tangled, Enchanted and The Muppets through the same point, but didn't quite hold as well as Arthur Christmas. Unfortunately, with just $48.8 million in 10 days, Guardians will likely finish as one of the worst-grossing movies ever for DreamWorks Animation. One good note is that based on recent trajectories, Guardians should hold on really strong next weekend as family audiences catch up with Santa or Christmas-related movies. And with extended vacations coming up, the gross should eventually pass $100 million domestically.
Just $12,000 behind Guardians was Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, which continued to perform impressively. The historical drama was down 48% to $13.377 million, for a 24-day tally of a strong $83.6 million, and will pass $100 million stateside within the next two weeks. After its' impressive debut last weekend, Ang Lee's Life of Pi was down only 46% to $12.2 million, for a $48.5 million gross in 10 days, or about double what Hugo had earned in the same amount of time. Strong holds should guide Pi to a finish above $100 million. After seeing strong numbers over Thanksgiving, Wreck-it Ralph is starting to dash toward the box office finish line. The animated hit plunged 58% and held the sixth spot, grossing $6.9 million, for a $158.2 million gross in one month of release. It won't reach $200 million, but will still wrap its' run with a solid $175 million, ranking as the fourth-biggest animated title of 2012 (behind Brave, Madagascar 3 and The Lorax).
The first new wide release, Brad Pitt's Killing Them Softly was dead on arrival, earning just $6.8 million, for a per-theater average of a dismal $2,811 from 2,424 theaters. Despite generally positive reviews from critics and Pitt's good track record, the movie just couldn't avoid the post-Thanksgiving doldrums. But that's not the worst part, the movie was hated by audiences, as it was given a rare "F" CinemaScore, which indicates that the movie will quickly leave theaters. The film was produced for $15 million by distributor The Weinstein Company.War drama/remake Red Dawn continued its' better-than-expected performance this weekend with just a 55% dip from last weekend to $6.5 million, for a $31.3 million gross in 10 days. The star-studded flick should go on to gross $45 million stateside, which is actually a good number for a movie that had been shelved for three years. Denzel Washington's Flight continued to play well, down 47% to $4.5 million, for a solid $81.5 million gross in one month of release. A Christmas bump plus little competition for older audiences could get the movie to finish right at $100 million.
Surprisingly, the other new wide release rounded out the Top 10. Horror flick The Collection collected $3.1 million, for a per-theater average of an abysmal $2,213 from 1,403 theaters.
