The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -
Part 1 suffered another
healthy plunge in its third bout, but its $16.5-million take was
still good enough to make the vampire/werewolf flick three-peat. The first half
of Summit Entertainment’s finale has now amassed $246.9 million in 17 days, and
is trailing “New Moon” by just 5 percent through the same period. Internationally,
the Stephenie Meyer adaptation is still going gangbusters, adding $40.2 million
in 73 markets for a towering global take of $588.3 million.
Critical adoration and
audience love couldn’t help Disney’s The Muppets stave off the expected
post-Thanksgiving drop as Kermit and friends raised another $11.1 million for a
two-week tally of $56.4 million. This is similar to the dip Tangled experienced on the same weekend last year,
but with Christmas now in sight, expect some big boosts in the coming weeks and
a final gross north of $100 million.
With the addition of 563
theaters, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo slid only 33 percent to $7.6
million and now has $25.1 million to its name. Like The Muppets, the family-aimed fantasy will hold steadfast
throughout December and with the likelihood of awards consideration building, Hugo could stick around even longer.
The Top Ten
1. The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - $16.5M (weekend)…$246.9M (gross)
2. The Muppets -
$11.1M…$56.4M
3. Hugo - $7.9M…$25.1M
4. Arthur Christmas -
$7.4M…$25.3M
5. Happy Feet 2 -
$5.9M…$51.7M
6. Jack and Jill -
$5.3M…$64.1M
7. The Descendants -
$4.8M…$18.0M
8. Immortals - $4.7M…$75.7M
9. Tower Heist $3.9M…$70.6M
10. Puss in Boots -
$3.0M…$139.5M
Riding the spirit of the holiday season, Arthur Christmas hung on better than those films in its genre, jingling all the way to $7.4 million thanks to a 39-percent decline. Globally, the critically-lauded Aardman Animation flick has collected a cool $70 million, with much more to come.
The Descendents was the only other movie of note this weekend as a modest theater boost and incredible word of mouth added $5.2 million, for an early $18.0 million and still-sizzling $9,000 per-screen average.
Shattering the constraints of its NC-17 rating, the Oscar-hopeful Shame guilted $361,000 from just 10 showings for a great $36,000 average. With lead Michael Fassbender being touted for a Best Actor Oscar, upcoming expansions should result in a solid limited-release run.
Following a week with no new wide releases, two decidedly different comedies debut. First off is the mega-ensemble rom-com New Year’s Eve which aims to make the ladies swoon in 3,300-plus showings and then the Jonah Hill comedy The Sitter which will go nationwide in a yet-as-unspecified number of screens. Two more critic favorites Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Young Adult debut in less than 10 theaters nationwide.