>Another very slow week at the nation’s movie theaters, with high double-digit declines compared to similar weeks the past few years. The year to date box office total is now down 3.8% from last year — it was -3.7% last week. Box office should perk up as it always does between Christmas and New Year’s, but it will be up to the new late-December movies to generate excitement as there will be little business to count on from the movies already in release.
The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume
All films in wide release playing between December 5 and December 11 grossed $90 million, down 15% from the same week in 2010 and down 29% from the average comparable week the past four years. Year to date, all films are now down 3.8% from the same period last year.
All Films December 5-11
(millions) 4yr vs vs
2010 Avg 2011 2010 Avg
Week #49 $105 $126 $ 90 -15% -29%
Year to Date $9496 $9031 $9133
-3.8% +1.1%
Updated Estimates of Final Grosses
The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Grosses (the estimated North American gross when the film ends its run) are summarized below for films released the last six weeks. Pay attention to the final domestic grosses, which are much more important than individual weekend grosses and especially weekend rankings.
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 $269 million (96 percentile)
Immortals $84 million (73 percentile)
Tower Heist $83 million (72 percentile) The Muppets $81 million (72 percentile) Jack and Jill $73 million (69 percentile) Happy Feet Two $67 million (66 percentile)
Hugo $50 million (55 percentile)
Arthur Christmas $49 million (54 percentile)
J. Edgar $37 million (44 percentile)
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas $36 million (43 percentile)
The Descendants $35 million (42 percentile)
New Year’s Eve $29 million (33 percentile)
The Sitter $25 million (27 percentile)
Weekend Actuals vs Sunday’s Studio Projections
The weekend Studio Projections (Friday and Saturday actual numbers with estimates for Sunday’s box office) were overly optimistic for New Year’s Eve ($700,000 higher than the actual weekend number reported today) and The Sitter ($200,000 higher than the actual). The studio estimates for the holdover films were fairly accurate, however.
Weekend of Sunday Monday Showbuzz
December 5-11 Studio Weekend Domestic
(millions) Estimate Actual Total
New Year’s Eve (WB/NL) $13.7 $13.0 $ 29
The Sitter (Fox) $10.0 $ 9.8 $ 25
Twilight Breaking Dawn 1 (Sum) $ 7.9 $ 7.8 $269
The Muppets (Dis) $ 7.1 $ 7.0 $ 81
Arthur Christmas (Sony) $ 6.6 $ 6.5 $ 49
Hugo (Par) $ 6.1 $ 6.1 $ 50
The Descendants (Fox) $ 4.8 $ 4.4 $ 35
Happy Feet Two (WB) $ 3.7 $ 3.7 $ 67
Jack and Jill (Sony) $ 3.2 $ 3.1 $ 73
Immortals (Rel) $ 2.4 $ 2.5 $ 84
Tower Heist (Uni) $ 2.4 $ 2.4 $ 83
Puss in Boots (Par/DW) $ 1.6 $ 1.6 $144
International box office results can be found here.
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