The only new release this weekend is comedy The Best Man Holiday, a Christmas-themed sequel to the 1999 film The Best Man. That film was a minor hit at the box office, earning $35 million, or the equivalent of around $55 million today. One has to wonder why this is here if its' been 14 years? Well, there's virtually nothing wrong with making a Christmas sequel, is there? I can't exactly answer why this is here, but I will say distributor Universal has done a solid job marketing this pic. There's also no competition in the marketplace for comedies, a strong sign this comedy will perform better than expected. Don't expect it to make too much noise as some audiences are waiting for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, but it should still have a solid second place opening. Reviews have been surprisingly solid thus far. Look for a $18 million opening weekend, on its' way to around $55-$60 million domestic with no competition until December.Thor: The Dark World should easily hold the #1 spot, and will likely hold better than its' predecessor due to solid word-of-mouth and an extra week of breathing room from Catching Fire. Look for a 55% drop to $39 million, for a $147 million gross in 10 days. The rest of the Top 5 will be in the distance, but look for Free Birds and Last Vegas to battle for third place with around $8 million apiece (down 30% each), and Bad Grandpa to round out the Top 5 with around $7 million (down 40%). Their totals will respectively reach $42 million and $46 million in 17 days, and $89 million in 24 days.
Here is the rest of the Top 10:
#6: Ender's Game ($6.5 million, -36%)
#7: Gravity ($6 million, -29%)
#8: 12 Years a Slave ($5 million, -21%)
#9: Captain Phillips ($4 million, -30%)
#10: About Time ($3 million, -38%)
