Weekend Estimates
(3-day)
#1 "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" $42.5 million ($230.7 million) -70%
#2 "The Blind Side" $40.1 million ($100.3 million) +18%
#3 "2012" $18.0 million ($138.8 million) -32%
#4 "Old Dogs" $16.8 million ($24.1 million)
#5 "A Christmas Carol" $16.0 million ($105.4 million) +30%
#6 "Ninja Assassin" $13.1 million ($21.0 million)
#7 "Planet 51" $10.0 million ($28.5 million) -17%
#8 "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" $7.1 million ($32.4 million) -35%
#9 "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" $7.0 million ($10.1 million)
#10 "The Men Who Stare at Goats" $1.53 million ($30.6 million) -46%
#11 "The Road" $1.52 million ($2.0 million)
#12 "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" $1.3 million ($5.7 million) +109%
(5-day)
#1 "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" $66.0 million ($230.7 million) -54%
#2 "The Blind Side" $57.5 million ($100.3 million) +69%
#3 "2012" $25.5 million ($138.8 million) -3%
#4 "Old Dogs" $24.1 million
#5 "A Christmas Carol" $22.6 million ($105.4 million) +84%
#6 "Ninja Assassin" $21.0 million
#7 "Planet 51" $13.9 million ($28.5 million) +13%
#8 "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" $9.5 million ($10.1 million) +4,568%
#9 "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" $9.4 million ($32.5 million) -13%
#10 "The Men Who Stare at Goats" $2.2 million ($30.6 million) -23%
#11 "The Road" $2.0 million
#12 "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" $1.9 million ($5.7 million) +217%
The box office remained scorching as the last two weekends have produced the biggest two-week run the month of November has ever seen. This week the top 12 films earned a record-breaking $175.2 million (a stellar $255.6 million over the five-day period), marking the biggest Thanksgiving holiday weekend tally in history. 2009's incredible year-to-date haul now stands at $9.476 billion, which is a 8% increase from a year ago ($8.738 billion), up 10% compared to '07 ($8.638 billion), 15% stronger than '06 ($8.259 billion), and a 20% improvement over '05 ($7.912 billion). An estimated 1.32 billion theater admissions have been sold thus far this year, marking the strongest ticket sales the industry has enjoyed since 2004. There's little doubt now that 2009 will become the first year at the box office to earn more than $10 million in domestic earnings.
Despite taking a much steeper than expected 70% hit in business, Summit's 'New Moon' still topped the box office as it earned the fifth best Thanksgiving weekend mark in history. The film's $42.5 million haul ($66 million over the five-day frame) only trails the Turkey-Day tallies of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" ($57.5 million), "Toy Story 2" ($57.4 million), "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" ($54.7 million), and 'The Grinch' ($52.1 million). 'New Moon' has now earned an impressive $230.7 million, already passing the $192.8 million haul of "Twilight" last year. The studio is expecting 'New Moon' to have a run similar to "Twilight", which also had a large second-weekend decline (-62%), but enjoyed a very strong run throughout the holidays after the initial steep percentage hit. Look for a final domestic tally just north of the triple-century mark.
Overseas, 'New Moon' has now pulled in $243 million from 56 territories, giving it a worldwide gross of just under $474 million. That easily moves it past the $385 million that "Twilight" earned globally. This weekend's overseas haul of $85.1 million was off a very mild 31% compared to last weekend's opening numbers. 'New Moon' is well on its way to becoming one of the top five biggest hits of the year both domestically and worldwide.
The real story this weekend was the surprisingly strong second-weekend performance of WB's "The Blind Side", which earned the sixth biggest Thanksgiving weekend tally in history, just behind 'New Moon'. The movie became the second $100 million-plus earner for star Sandra Bullock this year (behind "The Proposal") and has WB thinking that this one could ultimately leg its way past the double-century mark domestically. The film cost less than $30 million to make.
Sony's "2012" is nearing the $140 million mark. Disney's "Old Dogs" had a decent debut as it pulled in $24 million over the five-day frame. Disney's "A Christmas Carol" passed the $100 million plateau, giving Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis the ninth such hit of his career. Only fellow Oscar-winner Steven Spielberg has more $100 million-plus performers as a director (14). WB's "Ninja Assassin" earned $21 million over the long weekend. Sony's "Planet 51" continues to do decent, but far from spectacular, numbers. Lionsgate's Oscar hopeful 'Precious' has now taken in more than $32 million. The film itself cost only $10 million to make. Fox's "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" went wide this weekend but was met with a very lukewarm reception. The studio is hoping for stronger results on home video. Star George Clooney's other film, "The Men Who Stare at Goats", has also struggled to find an audience as it has earned just over $30 million in four weeks of release.
Weinstein/Dimention's Oscar hopeful "The Road" had a very strong debut as it earned $1.5 million from only 111 theaters, giving it an average of $13,721, which was the best of the top 12. Apparition's "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" has struggled to find an audience earning only $5.8 million in five weeks of limited play. Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" opened in two theaters this weekend and pulled in $712K ($1.1 million over the five-day frame), giving it a jaw-dropping average of $356K. The movie goes wide in two weeks.
Next weekend will see the releases of Miramax's "Everybody's Fine", Lionsgate's "Brothers", Sony's "Armored", and Full Circle Releasing's "Transylmania". Regardless of how well these films open, the battle for #1 is expected to come down between 'New Moon' and "The Blind Side". We'll see what happens.
