Whoa. It looks like this weekend provided the biggest three-day take in history, a whopping $264m cume for the top twelve if the estimates hold. My streak stayed alive, barely, though clearly I underestimated the strength of the weekend. I thought it would be the second best weekend of the year… instead it was the best ever. Let’s break it down!
#1 movie predicted correctly: 9 Weeks In A Row
1. Avatar
Alert commenters Athar and ‘Just Myself’ both had calls in the $64m range, this one exceeded even the loftiest expectations. Avatar lost less than three percent, how’s that for staying power? The worldwide cume will go over half a billion by next weekend, 20th Century Fox is coming on strong as the year closes.
Result: 75.0 million (My rank: #1, $22.2m off)
I saw it again this weekend and had a solid time. ‘Just Myself’ was closest on this one too, only $16m light. We were all pretty low, eh? Warner Bros. has surpassed $2b at the box office this year, so drinks all around for those guys. Sherlock is in nice shape to mount a serious charge next weekend — Avatar has to fall at some point, right?
Result: 65.3 million (My rank: #2, $18.2m off)
The Squeakquel banked. Ryan, Topy, and Mfan all threw up $50m calls… and they were correct. I had hoped people would abandon this franchise but my hopes were dashed as commerce won out. Parents needed a PG product and Fox delivered.
Result: 50.2 million (My rank: #3, $13.7m off)
Nick and JAC were both dialed in here, and I was only $1m off my own self. This was the adult alternative title, well positioned by Universal.
Result: 22.1 million (My rank: #4, $1m off)
Blerg. This should have been released a couple weeks ago. $6,200 per theater isn’t enough to build any serious buzz.
Result: 11.75 million (My rank: #5, $5.65m off)
When you figure out why I keep picking against this title please let me know. I’m like Charlie Brown with Lucy holding the football over here.
Result: 11.73 million (My rank: #8, $5.6m off)
It fell the most of any title in the top ten this weekend. You know what should have been a full length film? Prep and Landing. That was a dynamite little Christmas special.
Result: 8.6 million (My rank: #6, $1.1m off)
8. Nine
Brutalized. It clearly didn’t have the accessibility of Chicago or Moulin Rouge.
Result: 5.5 million (My rank: #7, $1.6m off)
The production budget was listed at $58m??!! That’s a ton of money to spend on a non-CGI romantic comedy. Sidenote: I watched Love Actually over the weekend… now that’s a Hugh Grant movie worth catching!
Result: 5.0 million (My rank: #9, $0.7m off)
10. Invictus
They have very little hope of making a profit unless it really thrives internationally.
Result: 4.3 million (My rank: #10, $0.7m off)
How say you? Did you catch a movie during the biggest weekend ever? Which of the monster numbers surprised you the most? And do we have a legit horse race next weekend as a I go for a double-digit streak? Comment away!
