Weekend Wrap-Up

Breaking Dawn = New Moon for the Box Office

By John Hamann

November 20, 2011

Oh, now this just stretches the limits of believability.

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Fourth is the dreaded Jack and Jill, which also dropped hard this weekend. The 4% fresh Jack and Jill took in $12 million in its second frame, dropping a joyous 52%. The $80 million Adam Sandler production now finds itself in danger of not meeting its production budget domestically, as it has a gross so far of $41 million. Unfortunately, Sandler is a worldwide draw, so he likely won't be punished financially for making such a bad film.

Fifth goes to Puss in Boots (I still say the fix is in if Jack and Jill keeps managing to finish ahead of it). Now four weekends old, Puss in Boots not only had to fight off the hordes going to Breaking Dawn this weekend, it also had direct demographic competition in Happy Feet 2. The result is painfully obvious, and Puss in Boots earns $10.7 million and drops a nasty 57%. So after seeing drops of 3% and 25% in its first two frames, karma strikes back this weekend (and will again in its next). The $130 million DreamWorks Animation production has now earned $122.3 million, with another $50 million coming from overseas.

Sixth is Tower Heist from not-so-gay-friendly former Oscar producer Brett RATner. Tower Heist earned $7 million in its third weekend and dropped 45%. Unfortunately, if there was a film that benefited from sold out Twilight screenings, this is likely it, as that drop should be higher. So far, Universal's Tower Heist has earned $53.4 million against a $75 million budget.

Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar fails to hold well, despite being the only real drama in the top ten. J. Edgar earned $5.9 million in its second weekend of release and dropped 47%. Warner Bros. chose to expand J. Edgar only slightly, moving it from 1,910 venues to 1,947. A rebound now is seriously unlikely, and this may go down as Eastwood's second consecutive disappointment following last year's Hereafter. Give J. Edgar $20.7 million so far against a budget of $35 million.




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Eighth is A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas, as it slides down the box office ladder. The Kal Penn/John Cho flick earned $2.9 million in its third weekend and dropped 51%. The $19 million release has now earned $28.3 million domestically. Can they get the DVD out by Christmas?

Ninth is In Time with Justin Timberlake. The sci-fi thriller earned $1.7 million in its fourth weekend and dropped 59%. The $40 million Fox release has earned $33.4 million domestically and over $50 million from overseas cinemas.

Surprisingly, tenth goes to the new George Clooney movie, The Descendants, despite being out to only 29 venues. Yep, 29. Despite the slim screen count, the Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Sideways) release earned $1.2 million and garnered a venue average of $42,150. This one is going to be with us for a long time to come.

Overall, the box office is well ahead of last year, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 opened to $125 million. That brought the top 12 films at the box office up to $186.4 million, which this year dominated. With Breaking Dawn on top, the top 12 films earned $217 million, which is one of the biggest Top 12s ever. Next weekend is Thanksgiving, which brings us the kids' films in Arthur Christmas, Hugo and The Muppets, three films that are getting very good reviewsl, along with the second weekend of Breaking Dawn.


Top Weekend Box Office for 11/18/11-11/20/11 (Estimates)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 SUMMIT $139,500,000 New $139,500,000
2 Happy Feet Two WARNER BROS. $22,025,000 New $22,025,000
3 Immortals Relativity Media $12,252,000 - 62.0% $52,979,930
4 Jack and Jill Sony/Columbia $12,000,000 - 52% $41,028,000
5 Puss in Boots DreamWorks $10,725,000 - 57% $122,313,000
6 Tower Heist Universal $6,957,830 - 45% $53,391,605
7 J. Edgar Warner Bros. $5,900,000 - 47% $20,695,000
8 A Very Harold And Kumar 3d Christmas WARNER BROS. $2,900,000 - 51% $28,333,000
9 In Time Twentieth Century Fox $1,675,000 - 59% $33,418,841
10 The Descendants Fox Searchlight $1,222,344 New $1,222,344
11 Paranormal Activity 3 Paramount $1,000,000 - 72% $102,619,000
12 Footloose Paramount Pictures $835,000 - 69% $50,141,000
  Also Opening/Notables
  Eames: the Architect And the Painter First Run $23,000 New $23,000
  Tyrannosaur Strand $7,500 New $7,500
  Garbo: the Spy First Run $4,500 New $4,500
  Melancholia Magnolia Pictures $325,000 + 26% $700,000
  Like Crazy Paramount Vantage $525,000 + 4% $1,770,000
  Margin Call Roadside Attractions $450,000 - 18% $4,000,000
  Martha Marcy May Marlene Fox Searchlight $385,000 - 20% $2,258,787
  Real Steel DreamWorks $543,000 - 71% $82,547,046
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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