text: A much shorter report this weekend as the huge box office review usually replaces the final report of the year (Still available here). Three new movies saw release on Christmas Day and with many people taking the entire week off, all films, both old and new, received a boost. Ahead into the new year, we have at least 12 major releases within the first month, with an equally busy February.
  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey may have slipped out of the top spot on Christmas Day, but as the weekend approached, it stepped up again and became the eleventh film of 2012 to clear $200M. As with almost every film this weekend, its Friday haul was bigger than its previous one, making $10M. By the end of the frame it had added another $22.9M, to give it a 17 day total of $222.7M. It still trails the last two Lord of the Rings movies, but is comfortably ahead of where Fellowship was at the same point. The holiday boost means $275M domestically is all but a sure thing. Abroad it is still the dominant film, bringing its global total to over $686M.
  Quentin Tarantino's violent Spaghetti Western homage, Django Unchained opened on Christmas Day to the best single day figure of the director's entire career - $15M - but couldn't best Les Miserables for the top spot. It followed that up with a further $10M on Boxing Day and wound up with $33M in its coffers before Friday and the weekend began proper. It scored an additional $9.6M on Friday (an increase of 16.5% on the previous day), making $30.6M for the weekend overall. That means that since Tuesday, Django Unchained has made an impressive $64M, and will become Tarantino's second $100M earner. It's also in with a shot of out-grossing Inglourious Basterds' $120M finish.
  Musical adaptation Les Miserables, which features Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, debuted at number one on Christmas day with a strong $18.1M. A $12M Boxing day pushed it over $30M and even though The Hobbit unseated it on Thursday, it still managed to add another $9.1M to bring its pre-weekend total to $39.4M. It saw a slight increase in takings on Friday, managing $9.4M. By Sunday night it had collected $18.6M more, to give it a three day total of $28M. All up since Christmas Day, Les Miserables has made $67.4M, with an additional $48.7M coming from overseas. Chances are, the picture is unlikely to trouble Chicago's $170M finish but should have little trouble hitting $100M and well beyond.
  The final Christmas Day release was the family comedy, Parental Guidance, which stars Bette Midler and Billy Crystal as grandparents charged with taking care of their grand children while the parents are out of town. A clash of old school child-minding battles against 21st century attitudes. While it didn't perform anywhere near as well as Django or Les Mis, it still managed to take almost $15M before Friday. A solid weekend return of $14.5M puts the film with an overall total of $29.5M after six days on release.
  On to the holdovers and again, thanks to the holiday, every thing got a boost during the week. Of all the films to be affected by Django Unchained, Jack Reacher probably took the biggest hit. It was the only film in the top ten that didn't see a second Friday increase in takings, though its 11% drop wasn't really much of a worry either. The Tom Cruise action flick did ok last weekend, making $15M, and was up to $30M as its second frame began. A $4.5M Friday led to a $14M weekend, giving the flick a running total of $44.7M. It will cover its $60M budget domestically, but will need to rely on success overseas to make a profit. There's as yet no word on whether there will be further Jack Reacher pictures, Paramount obviously waiting until the end of the film's run before making a decision.
  This Is Forty, which had something of a disappointing start last frame when it made only $12M, saw decent weekday figures which helped push it up to $28M by the end of its eighth day on release (it increased 10% on a Friday to Friday basis). The comedy, a spin off from Knocked Up which features Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann added another $9.1M over Saturday and Sunday, finishing up with $13.1M for the weekend, and $37.1M overall. That means it's already recouped its production budget and should just about surpass director Judd Apatow's last film, Funny People, by the end of its theatrical run.
  Lincoln's Friday to Friday boost was the best of any holdover in the top ten - a staggering 71%. The Steven Spielberg biopic, which covers the last months of the president's life has now made an incredible $132M - doubling its production budget, and all from a location count that has not risen above 2,293. With its figure this weekend, it's now also the biggest drama of 2012. Lincoln will finish up as the twelfth most successful film of the director's career and should garner a number of Academy award nominations in the near future too.
  The Guilt Trip, which stars Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen, actually performed better in its second week than it did its first, thanks largely to the holidays. Sadly, even with a second weekend total of $6.7M, the picture won't be able to escape disappointment. Made for $40M, The Guilt Trip is heading for a $35M finish.
  Of the recent 3D re-releases, Monsters Inc. opened the weakest last weekend when it made $4.7M. The Pixar film did perform better, on average, than Rise of the Guardians over the last few days and saw a Friday to Friday increase of 64% (admittedly, its first Friday figure was only $1.3M). In total this weekend it made $6.3M, and has thus paid for the 3D conversion costs. As this release really meant to serve as one big advert for its 3D Blu-Ray debut, Disney/Pixar won't be too disappointed with what the picture ultimately makes theatrically.
  Dreamwork's Rise of The Guardian had a better week than the previous one, seeing over $1.2M every day, including $1.8M on Friday. This weekend it made another $4.9M, bringing its cumulative gross to $90.3M. After a weak start, it looks likely the picture will actually clear $100M but will earn little more beyond that. Its global total at the time of writing stands at just over $230M.
  Finally, outside the top ten, Skyfall has now crossed the $1 billion dollar mark.
  Happy New Year!
  Posted by Box Office Voodoo at 08:45
  No comments:
  Post a Comment
  Newer Post Older Post Home
  Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
  Box Office Voodoo
  U.S Box Office and 80s' Movie Reporter. Established 2002, writing weekly since 2005. 80 From the 80s seeks to be the definitive resource for 80s movies.