The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.
There was a lot to be thankful for this week as the Thanksgiving holiday kicked the box office into high gear and though three family offerings were fighting for business, they all succumbed to the second weekend of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (Summit), the first half of the final chapter of the fan favorite supernatural romance series, which brought in $42 million in its second weekend, down 70% from its opening, and $62.3 million over the five-day holiday including Wednesday and Thursday. This brings its domestic total to $221 million, down slightly from the second movie New Moon‘s $230 million, which followed the same release pattern two years ago. Worldwide, the movie has grossed $489.3 million since opening twelve days ago, adding $71.5 million from 68 international markets this weekend. Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is currently the fifth-biggest movie of 2011, but considering it’s only been in theaters ten days, we can see it making a play for third place by the time the holidays are over.
Opening in second place, Disney’s The Muppets, co-starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Chris Cooper, brought in $29.5 million in its first three-day weekend and $42 million over the five days in 3,440 theaters. It joins seven other Disney movies in the Top 10 biggest Thanksgiving openers though it fell short of the openings of last year’s Tangled and Adams’ other Thanksgiving hit Enchanted, probably hurt by the family competition.
George Miller’s animated sequel Happy Feet Two (Warner Bros.) dropped to third with $13.4 million in its sophomore frame with $43.8 million grossed in ten days. It’s still faring fairly poorly compared to the previous movie and probably won’t even get to $100 million with so much family competition coming between now and Christmas.
Sony Pictures Animation’s first collaboration with Aardman, the holiday comedy Arthur Christmas (Sony), featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Bill Nighy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton, opened in fourth place with a disappointing $12.7 million in 3,376 theaters, roughly $3,700 per venue, making just under $17 million over its first five days. It adds another $11.9 million from its global release into 4,000 theaters in 24 countries, which makes its three-day worldwide gross $39.3 million.
Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (Paramount Pictures), an adaptation of Brian Selznick’s “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” starring Asa Butterfield, Chloë Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sir Ben Kingsley and Emily Mortimer, brought in $11.35 million with $15.4 including Wednesday and Thanksgiving. Having opened in less than 1,300 theaters including many 3D screens, it averaged nearly $8900 per venue over the weekend, which gave it the second-highest per-theater average in the Top 10, and Paramount already has plans to expand it into over 2,000 theaters on December 9.
Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill (Sony) followed in sixth place with $10.3 million over the three-day weekend bringing its total to $57.4 million, followed in seventh by Tarsem Singh’s Immortals (Relativity) with $8.8 million and $68.6 million total.
DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots took eighth place with $7.4 million over the three days with a gross of $135.3 million since opening in late October.
Brett Ratner’s comedy Tower Heist (Universal), starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, was the only returning movie to actually increase over the holiday weekend despite losing theaters, as it took ninth place with $7.3 million (up 3%) with a total gross of $65.4 million for the month.
Alexander Payne’s The Descendants (Fox Searchlight), starring George Clooney, remained in tenth place with $7.2 million after expanding into 433 theaters, bringing its total to $10.7 million after ten days. By comparison, it took over six weeks for Payne’s previous movie Sideways to gross that amount.
The Top 10 grossed an estimated $150 million over the three-day weekend, down roughly 13% from last Thanksgiving when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 dominated the weekend with $50 million, followed closely by Disney’s Tangled with $49 million.
The Weinstein Company opened two potential awards contenders in limited release this weekend with My Week with Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne and Kenneth Branagh opening with $1.8 million in 244 theaters, roughly $7,200 per site, which was enough to get it into the Top 12. It opened on Wednesday in roughly a hundred fewer theaters, bringing its five-day gross$2.1 million.
Opening on Friday in New York and Los Angeles, The Artist grossed $210 thousand, averaging $52.5 thousand per site, which is a solid opening for a movie that’s being considered one of the top contenders at the Oscars in many categories.
David Cronenberg’s psychological drama A Dangerous Method (Sony Pictures Classics), starring Michael Fassbender, Vigo Mortensen and Keira Knightley, brought in $241 thousand in 4 theaters in New York and L.A, though it opened on Wednesday so it had two extra days of box office over The Artist.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films. (Note: Because there won’t be any new wide releases next weekend, we’ll be taking a week off from the box office report.)
