Many people wanted to see Vince and Reese not enjoy the holidays.
So here’s the good news–the economy may suck, but people are apparently willing to take all that money they’re not spending on presents and use it for movie tickets. Box office was solid all-around as the big holiday movie season, with lots of star-laden movies, kicks into full swing.
Four Christmases, the Vince Vaughn/Reese Witherspoon comedy, came in at number one, surprising most people, especially me. I just thought it didn’t look very good, and doubted that either of those two were enough to bring in audiences. But it seems that people, perhaps miserable with their own holiday experience, were hoping to escape them for a while to watch the comedic misery of others. The movie took in $46.7 million for the Wednesday-Sunday stretch, and $31.7 million for the traditional Friday-Sunday weekend (all numbers estimated until finals tomorrow, and all numbers courtesy of Variety).
Twilight came in second with $39.5 million for the five day period and $26.4 million for the three day. I though it was going to hang onto number one for a second week, but I guess that’s what happens when you’ve got a bunch of teens stranded at relatives’ houses, unable to hit the multiplex for repeat viewings. The film experienced a 62% decline from last weekend.
On the other hand, Bolt actually experienced an upturn in business–1/4%. That may not seem like much, but considering that almost every movie goes down by double digits in its second week, it’s actually pretty impressive. The family friendly film–especially friendly to families with small kids home from school and daycare–took in $36 million for the five day and $26.6 million for the weekend, good for third place. Looks like this is on track to hold steady over the holidays.
Speaking of holding steady, Quantum of Solace was in fourth place with $28.1 for the five days, and $19.5 million for the weekend. That’s only a 27% decline and it’s still looking good in its third weekend of release.
Australia, the Baz Luhrmann epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman landed in fifth place with $20 million for the five days, and $14.8 million for the three-day weekend. That was for 2,642 locations, less than others in the top five. It was a good opening for a movie that a lot of executives were nervous about. I don’t know how it will hold up as the crop of dramatic/romance type movies begin to sweep in over the next few weeks, but at least it’s not a debacle.
In indie fare, Milk, easily one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, landed in tenth place with $1.9 million for the whole holiday session and $1.4 million for the three day weekend. At 36 locations, it had a stunning $52,627 per screen average. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around this one…wait, people came out and saw a small, serious movie that was good…? Strange days indeed.
So next week get ready for more Oscar contenders. We’ll see if any of them are money contenders as well.
