The post-Thanksgiving doldrums hit the moviegoing audience as, much like
2006, the top three films remained the same from last weekend and fourth place
was taken by a new film. Enchanted
held on to first place, while
Awake opened dismally
in fourth.
Disney scored back-to-back number one weekends with the animated/live-action
hybrid Enchanted
which dropped just over 50% from last weekend’s opening and took in an
estimated $17M. Last year’s post-Thanksgiving champ,
Happy Feet dropped
53% in its third weekend, while Enchanted was in its second weekend. Its
total now stands at $70M. Look for Princess Giselle and company to play strong
through the holidays, eventually ending up in the $140-150M range.
Second and third place were identical to last week as the surprising
This Christmas
dropped a reasonable 53% to an estimated $8.4M bringing its cume to $36.9M. Look
for a final gross in the area of $60M, making the Sony release highly
profitable. In third place was the CGI-fest Beowulf which wrangled $7.8M this
weekend, according to estimates. Its total now stands at $68.6M.
Waking up sleeping moviegoers in fourth place was the thriller
Awake starring
Hayden
Christensen and
Jessica Alba.
The MGM/Weinstin release scared up an estimated $6M this weekend, for a per
screen average of just over $3,000. With poor reviews, expect a quick trip
through the theatrical window and a DVD release early next year.
Landing in fifth place was the videogame-turned-film Hitman
which shot up $5.8M this weekend, according to estimates, bringing its cume
after two weekends to $30M. Look for a final gross in the $45-50M range. Sixth
and seventh places were identical to last weekend as Warner Bros. stablemates
Fred Claus
and August Rush
each dropped less than 50% from last weekend. Santa’s annoying brother took in
$5.5M, according to estimates, bringing its cume to $59.7M, while the musical
drama brought in an estimated $5.1M, bringing its total to $20.3M.
Oscar hopeful
No Country for
Old Men zoomed up to eighth place this weekend, with the lowest
drop in the top 10. The
Coen Brothers
crime thriller took in an estimated $4.5M, bringing its total to a solid $23M,
while still playing in less than 1,000 theaters. Watch the grosses grow as we
start heading into awards season. Ninth place was snatched up by a busy bee as
Jerry Seinfeld‘s
animated alter ego Bee
Movie buzzed audiences with another $4.4M this weekend, according to
estimates. Its 62% drop from last weekend was the biggest in the top 10 and its
cume now stands at $117.6M. And rounding out the top 10 was another award
hopeful
American Gangster,
which took in an estimated $4.2M in its fifth weekend, bringing its total to
$121.7M.
Debuting outside the top 10 were a couple of more award hopefuls in
The Savages and
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Savages, starring
Philip
Seymour Hoffman and
Laura Linney,
took in $153,000 from only 4 theaters for a per screen average of $38,250.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which tells the story of a man whose only
method of communication is blinking his left eyelid, took in $75,300 from 3
theaters for a per screen average of $25,100.
The top 10 grossed $69M this weekend, which was down 10% from 2006 when
Happy Feet remained at number one with $17.5M, and down 6.5% from 2005 when
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire also remained on top, with $19.8M.
