The final frame of 2007 saw moviegoers rush out and catch up on holdovers as
last weekend’s biggest hits remained atop the charts. The Disney adventure
sequel
National Treasure: Book of Secrets held steady at number one for the
second straight time grossing an estimated $35.6M. Dropping a reasonable 20%,
the PG-rated actioner saw its ten-day total soar to $124M. Nicolas Cage‘s
franchise pic averaged a terrific $9,299 from 3,832 playdates. Book of
Secrets has already broken into the Top 20 chart of this year’s blockbusters
and stands a chance of reaching the Top 10. That would be fitting since five of
the six biggest hits of 2007 were sequels.
Another PG-rated film catering to moviegoers of all ages followed in second.
Fox’s family comedy sensation
Alvin and the Chipmunks saw its weekend gross climb up 7% from last
weekend to an estimated $30M which boosted the cume to a stunning $142.4M in
only 17 days. If estimates hold, Alvin will become the first film in a
year and a half to gross $30M or more in its third weekend.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was the last smash to do it
back in July 2006. Alvin already sits at number 13 among all blockbusters
from 2007 and is Fox’s second-biggest hit of the year after the $183.1M of
The Simpsons Movie.
Will Smith‘s
megahit
I Am Legend
collected an estimated $27.5M in its third weekend, off 18%, pushing its
sensational total to $194.6M after 17 days. The Warner Bros. blockbuster is just
a couple of days away from becoming the ninth blockbuster of 2007 to cross the
$200M mark edging out 2005’s eight to set a new industry record. National
Treasure and Alvin could both still join the club by the end of their
runs. Together the three end-of-year behemoths have grossed a combined $461M and
counting giving the year an explosive finish.
Leading all films for mature adults was
Charlie Wilson’s
War with an estimated $11.8M which was up a healthy 22% from last
weekend’s opening frame. With Christmas over and grown-ups having more available
time, the
Tom Hanks–Julia
Roberts pic upped its cume to a decent $34.5M which was almost identical to
the $35.1M that the studio saw exactly a year ago from its CIA drama
The Good Shepherd
in its first ten days which also included the yuletide holiday week. That
political saga appealed to much the same audience and went on to gross $59.9M
domestically. War cost $75M to produce.
Indie darling
Juno continued to
overwhelm at the box office leaping up into the number five slot with an
estimated $10.3M despite playing in only 998 theaters. Every film above it on
the charts is in at least 2,500 sites. The teen pregnancy tale averaged a
still-superb $10,321 in its fourth frame and pushed the sum up to a remarkable
$25.7M. Juno is already outperforming Fox Searchlight’s dysfunctional
family comedy hit from last year
Little Miss
Sunshine which in its fourth frame grossed $5.6M from its expansion into
691 locations for a $8,120 average and $12.7M total. With buzz snowballing,
kudos attention becoming more focused, and a long awards season still ahead of
it, Juno looks to challenge Sunshine and 2004’s
Sideways to become
the distributor’s highest-grossing film ever. Those Oscar-winning comedies
banked $59.9M and $71.5M, respectively.
Sony was close behind in seventh with the opening of its fantasy adventure
tale The Water
Horse which grossed an estimated $9.2M over the weekend and $16.8M
over six days. Over the three-day period, the PG-rated tale averaged a lukewarm
$3,319 per site in 2,772 locations. The Loch Ness Monster saga played mostly to
kids and families.
Enjoying a sturdy bump from last weekend was the romance
P.S. I Love You
which took in an estimated $9.1M climbing 40% from it unimpressive bow last
weekend. Warner Bros. has banked $23.4M in ten days and is finally reaching its
core audience of adult women now that holiday distractions have gone by.
The
Johnny Depp
musical
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Streetdropped 14% to an
estimated $8M in its second weekend. The $50M Paramount release has taken in
$26.7M in ten days. Disney’s less gory music-filled offering Enchanted
rounded out the top ten with an estimated $6.5M, up a charming 54%, to a total
of $110.7M.
Opening just outside the top ten with a surprisingly soft bow was
Denzel
Washington‘s directorial and starring effort
The Great Debaters
with an estimated $6.3M from 1,171 sites for a decent $5,383 average. Produced
by Oprah
Winfrey and co-starring
Forest
Whitaker, the PG-13 film has collected an unimpressive $13.5M in the six
days since its Christmas Day bow which is below what Washington usually sees
with his films. The Oprah factor was also expected to provide more of a
commercial boost.
Delivering the highest opening weekend average of the year, Paramount
Vantage’s oil baron saga
There Will Be
Blood exploded in just two theaters grossing an estimated $186,000
for an eye-popping $92,763 average. Co-produced by Miramax, the R-rated film is
anchored by
Daniel Day-Lewis who in recent weeks has earned awards and nominations from
virtually every kudos organization in the Best Actor category. He is now
considered one of the frontrunners for the Oscar. Reviews have been glowing for
Blood which will expand on Friday to 50 theaters and gradually roll out
in January.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $158.1M which was up a healthy 18%
from last year when
Night at the
Museum stayed at number one with $36.8M over three days; and up a
stunning 41% from 2005 when
The Chronicles of Narnia reclaimed the top spot with $25.7M.
Author: Gitesh Pandya,
www.BoxOfficeGuru.com
