
I think
critics should start boycotting the yearly Christmas Family Comedy. It's amazing: these movies are
never good. I can't think of another distinct subgenre with such a poor track record over
the last decade. And of course, I went and saw
Four Christmases, of my own free will. I'm
an idiot.
In any event, it was silly of me to imply that
Four Christmases
didn't have the muscle to win the weekend; high-profile Christmas movies almost always do well. The
$31.7 million three-day is one of the best openings ever for a movie of this kind; last year's
Fred Claus, also
starring Vince Vaughn, only managed $18.5 million in early November.
Four Christmases even
squeaked out
Elf. Its five-day
gross was an impressive $46.7 million.
Australia, on the
other hand: oh boy. Baz Luhrmann's ultra-expensive, ultra-long epic made $20 million over the five
days, which is less than inspiring -- especially considering it has now basically exited the Oscar
race. Luhrmann's
Moulin
Rouge! only ended up with around $57 million at the end of its domestic run -- but it
didn't cost $130 million, either.
Transporter 3 -- the weekend's best new offering,
for my money -- did okay with $12.3 million over three days and $18.5 over five. The three-day is a
slight decline from what
Transporter 2 did three
years ago, but overall I'd put them even. This franchise continues to be profitable.
Twilight fell
considerably, which isn't too surprising given the rabid-fan phenomenon that packs theaters opening
weekend. Around $160 million is looking like the endgame. Meanwhile,
Bolt, facing no new kid-centric
competition over the weekend, held up almost miraculously well, actually gaining slightly over the
three-day weekend. The folks at Disney have surely turned last weekend's frown upside down.
Slots 10 and 11 on the weekend's chart are occupied by limited releases:
Milk and
Slumdog
Millionaire, on 36 and 49 screens, respectively. Their success bodes well for their Oscar
chances.
The full five-day estimates after the jump.
Filed under: New
Releases, Box Office
Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Christmas Takes Thanksgiving
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