The battle between
werewolves and vampires continued over the Thanksgiving frame, as The
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, the fourth installment of the
insanely popular franchise, sucked up $41.7 million over three days, and $61.9
over five. The drop for the regular weekend was an understandable 70 percent,
but after an opening weekend of $138 million, don’t expect Summit Entertainment
to be alarmed. The good new continued overseas, as the tween phenomenon has now
collected a stunning $488.8 million in just two weeks.
The lights were pretty
bright for The Muppets, which charmed families and collected $29.2 million
over the regular weekend, and $41.5 over the holiday, which already makes this
the second highest grossing film of the brand, and should eclipse The Muppet Movie over the coming weeks. Audiences
and critics adored Kermit and pals, and with more kids off soon, The Muppets could easily become one of
the year’s biggest smashes.
The Top Ten
1. The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn – Part 1 - $41.7M (weekend)…$220.8M (gross)
2. The Muppets - $29.9M…$41.5M
3. Happy Feet Two -
$13.4M…$43.7M
4. Arthur Christmas – $12.0M…$16.3M
5. Hugo – $11.3M…$15.4M
6. Jack and Jill –
$10.0M…$57.1M
7. Immortals – $8.9M…$$68.7M
8. Puss in Boots – $7.5M…$135.4M
9. The Descendants –
$7.3M…$10.8M
10. Tower Heist – $7.1M…$65.2M
The bad vibrations continued for Happy Feet Two as it dropped the most of any film in the top ten with 36.9 percent over three days and has only collected $41.5 million in two weeks compared to the $99.3 million of the original through the same point. With better-reviewed kidpics littering the top ten, Happy Feet Two will be lucky to crack the century mark.
The Christmas spirit was at least partially alive and well with Aardman’s Arthur Christmas, which arose a clatter to the volume of $16.3 million over the holiday weekend but a weak $4,829 per theater average. However, the festive season is just beginning so expect Santa’s heir to stick around the top ten for at least a month.
Right behind was Martin Scorsese’s Hugo which charmed $15.4 million from families over the five-day, which is a far cry from recouping the massive $170-million price tag the film carries (though it did have on of the best per-theater averages). On the bright side, like Arthur Christmas, great reviews, the coming break and inevitable awards consideration should propel it to a healthy final gross.
Last off, four films in limited release made a splash: The Descendants, My Week with Marilyn, A Dangerous Method and The Artist. The George Clooney drama added 361 houses and exploded 688 percent to a $9.4 million take. “Marilyn” seduced $2.0 million from theatregoers in just 244 theaters riding on the buzz of Michelle Williams’ performance. Finally, in four showing a piece, A Dangerous Method and The Artist both made off with over $200,000 and averages over $50,000 over the five-day.