Summit Entertainment has sucked box office blood for four years now. Continuing that trend, the final installment of the ‘Twilight’ series once again dominated the box office over the holiday weekend.
Each of last week’s Top 3 titles held onto their positions over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend. ‘Breaking Dawn, Part 2‘ added $64 million to its cumulative total ($43 million of that from the actual weekend). All-in-all, the film has brought in $226.9 million over 10 short days. That’s actually more than ‘Skyfall‘ has made domestically in 17 days. James Bond’s 23rd flick earned another $51.1 million over the five-day weekend ($36 million from the actual weekend), which brings its domestic total up to $221.7 million. The third winner was the three-week-old ‘Lincoln‘. On 2,018 screens, the historical bio-pic’s $34 million five-day weekend ($25 million from the actual weekend) warranted the best per-screen average of the Top 10 with $16,896.
Of the three new wide releases, none landed above fourth place. The most successful was ‘Rise of the Guardians‘ with a $32.6 million five-day run ($24 million from the actual weekend). These numbers make it the lowest-opening DreamWorks Animation title since ‘Flushed Away’. Box Office Mojo notes that 3D tickets only account for 35% of its opening. Not only did families not see the movie, they didn’t see it on 3D screens.
For a borderline arthouse flick with highly philosophical and introspective themes, I was pleasantly surprised by the final numbers for ‘Life of Pi‘, which rounded out the Top 5 with $30.1 million over the five-day weekend ($22 million of which came from the actual weekend). Unlike ‘Rise of the Guardians’, audiences chose to see Ang Lee’s dazzling visuals in the third dimension. More than 68% of its draw came from 3D showings.
Showing just where a good chunk of the family audience went this weekend, ‘Wreck-It Ralph‘ stayed strong, finishing in the sixth spot. The movie drew $23 million over the five-day weekend, $16.7 million of which came from the actual weekend. To date, ‘Ralph’ has drawn in $149.5 million domestically.
Debuting better than expected was MGM’s three-year-old orphan, ‘Red Dawn‘. Over the five-day weekend, the remake brought in $22 million ($14.6 million from the actual weekend). Its budget is currently listed at $65 million, but who knows how much FilmDistrict actually paid the bankrupt MGM for the rights?
Also making waves was the recently-expanded David O. Russell film ‘Silver Linings Playbook‘. On a measly 367 screens, this Bradley Cooper/Jennifer Lawrence vehicle cracked the Top 10 with a $5.9 million five-day weekend. $4.6 million was made over the actual weekend. With a $16,080 per-screen average, ‘Silver Linings’ is expected to expand once again in the coming weeks.
Two hyped limited releases also made some ground. On 17 screens, Fox Searchlight’s ‘Hitchcock‘ made $301,000, for a $17,706 per-screen average. Sony Pictures Classics ‘Rust and Bone‘ earned $30,200 on just two screens, giving it a $15,100 per-screen average. The platform release of ‘Hitchcock’ will expand over the next few weeks, but Sony Pictures Classics has yet to release any expansion plans for ‘Rust and Bone’.
Top 10 (Five-Day Totals)
1. ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2’ (Summit) – $64,020,318
2. ‘Skyfall’ (Sony) – $51,124,656
3. ‘Lincoln’ (Buena Vista) – $34,097,131
4. ‘Rise of the Guardians’ (DreamWorks) – $32,607,000
5. ‘Life of Pi’ (Fox) – $30,150,000
6. ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ (Buena Vista) – $23,010,047
7. ‘Red Dawn’ (FilmDistrict) – $22,004,000
8. ‘Flight’ (Paramount) – $11,357,000
9. ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (Weinstein) – $5,901,357
10. ‘Argo’ (Warner Bros.) – $5,110,221
Top 10 (Three-Day Totals)
1. ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2’ (Summit) – $43,070,000
2. ‘Skyfall’ (Sony) – $36,000,000
3. ‘Lincoln’ (Buena Vista) – $25,020,000
4. ‘Rise of the Guardians’ (DreamWorks) – $24,025,000
5. ‘Life of Pi’ (Fox) – $22,000,000
6. ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ (Buena Vista) – $16,760,000
7. ‘Red Dawn’ (FilmDistrict) – $14,600,000
8. ‘Flight’ (Paramount) – $8,600,000
9. ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (Weinstein) – $4,623,000
10. ‘Argo’ (Warner Bros.) – $3,875,000
