Weekend Box Office: ‘Christmases’ Wraps Up No. 1 Spot Again

Frost/Nixon packed ‘em in…at three theaters.  

Everybody is in a holiday mood–at the movies, at least. Four Christmases, last week’s winner of the Thanksgiving weekend box office stakes, was number one again this first weekend in December. The Reese Witherspoon-Vince Vaughn comedy took in $18.2 million. That’s a 41% drop from its opening, but still more than respectable, especially on a weekend that was weak in general.

(btw, if you think that the success of Four Christmases means there’s a sequel in the works, or that Witherspoon and Vaughn will be paired again in another comedy, I wouldn’t bet on it. I’m sure I’m not the only one who heard it was a pretty rocky shoot with two leads who didn’t get along. Granted, Hollywood is always about money, and if the price is high enough, people will generally do anything. But these two have successful careers on their own; it’s not like they needed to find a partner to keep things going. Anyway. Just thought I’d mention.)

Twilight was in second place, with $13.2 million. You can expect the teen vampire flick to stick around high in the top five as long as there’s babysitting money, allowance money, and a ride from Mom or Dad to the multiplex.

Bolt was in third place with $9.7 million. After a weaker opening, it looked like Thanksgiving had revived the film’s fortunes, but apparently not. I thought for sure that hamster was going to be the breakout star of the holiday film season. Oh well. See you on DVD.

Australia came in fourth with $7 million. That’s not good. Hopefully many Australians are seeing it because the US audience isn’t doing the Kidman-Jackman romantic epic any favors. Quantum of Solace, gleefully profitable many weeks into its release, was fifth with $6.6 million.

This is the time of year when lots of Oscar hopefuls open in limited release, hoping to build word of mouth. Frost/Nixon is off to a fantastic start, with $180,000 from three theaters. That’s a big $60,000 per location. I’d been curious about how the very, very theatrical piece would come off as a film. Apparently a number of others were as well. But with those three theaters located in the arts hubs of New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto, one has to wonder if that $180,000 came from, well, everyone who had any interest. Let’s see how it goes in the next few weeks as other similarly sober awards contenders open. Meanwhile, the well-received Cadillac Records made a respectable $3.5 million off 686 screens. I wonder if that’s going to build.