Articles

December 26, 2012
 

Holiday Movie Season: Daily Box Office Track

Ten days into the three-week holiday movie season, 2012 is now 9% behind the average 10-day total over the last several years ($264 million this year for the first ten days versus $290 million on average 2004-2011).  However, 2012 remains 16% behind the last time Christmas fell on a Tuesday (2007 — $316 million the first ten days).  After a very soft weekend before Christmas (December 21-23) thanks to relative stinkers like Jack Reacher, This Is 40, The Guilt Trip and a re-release of Monsters, Inc., Christmas Day brought the 2012 holiday season roaring back with $68 million for the top 10 films, the best December 25 total since $82.6 million  in 2009 and beating the next biggest Christmas Day total ($66.8 million in 2008).

Turns out there was an audience for Les Miserables (#1 on December 25 with $18.1 million) and Django Unchained (#2 with $15.0 million).  The 12th day of The Hobbit was a robust #3 for the day with $11.3 million.  Parental Guidance pulled into fourth place, but with a $6.3 million opening day it will not play a role in turning around the holiday season.  Look for the domestic final gross estimates for each film in the next few days.

Holiday Season — First Ten Days
Top 10 Films by Day — $ millions
2012 2007 2004-2011 average
Dec 16 31.5 37.8 22.1
Dec 17 11.9 12.8 27.2
Dec 18 13.2 11.9 28.0
Dec 19 11.9 11.9 23.3
Dec 20 12.8 13.1 21.0
Dec 21 27.8 50.1 25.4
Dec 22 37.3 53.3 30.1
Dec 23 32.0 44.9 35.6
Dec 24 17.8 22.6 20.5
Dec 25 68.1  57.4 56.6
Dec 16-25 264 316 290

 

Looking back over the past decade, Christmas Day 2012 is second only to 2009, when the top 10 added up to $82.6 million.  Sherlock Holmes finished at #1 for the day with $24.6 million, sending Avatar to a rare second place with $23.1 million.  Avatar‘s move out of first place was temporary — the next day on December 26, Avatar returned to #1, where it stayed for another 40 of the next 41 days.  Christmas Day 2008 ($66.8 million for the top 10 films) indeed looked more like this year: Marley & Me at #1 with $14.4 million, Curious Case of Benjamin Button #2 with $11.9 million, Bedtime Stories #3 with $10.6 million and Valkyrie #4 with $8.5 million.

 

Christmas Day: Top 10 Films ($ millions)
Dec 25 on Weekdays Dec 25 on Weekends
Top10 #1 film Top10 #1 film
2012 Tue 68.1 Les Miserables 2011 Sun 54.5 Mission Impossible 4
2008 Thu 66.8 Marley & Me 2010 Sat 52.5 Little Fockers
2007 Tue 57.4 National Treasure 2009 Fri 82.6 Sherlock Holmes
2006 Mon 49.4 Night at the Museum 2005 Sun 41.4 King Kong
2003 Thu 46.3 Return of the King 2004 Sat 47.8 Meet the Fockers

 

On average, box office gross for the top 10 films grows slightly from December 25 to December 26.  However, in 2007 (when Christmas last fell on a Tuesday) the top 10 box office total declined from $57.4 million on Christmas to $50.4 million on Wednesday, December 26.  (December 26 is a holiday for many more people if the day extends Christmas into a weekend, but that is definitely not the case in this year’s calendar layout.)  Today (December 26) will probably drop to about $58 million, still very close to the multi-year average for the day.

Holiday Season: Top 10 Films by Day
$ millions — Average 2004-2011
Dec 16 22.1 Dec 23 35.6 Dec 30 45.4
Dec 17 27.2 Dec 24 20.5 Dec 31 37.9
Dec 18 28.0 Dec 25 56.6 Jan 1 50.1
Dec 19 23.3 Dec 26 59.3 Jan 2 39.7
Dec 20 21.0 Dec 27 48.5 Jan 3 22.9
Dec 21 25.4 Dec 28 44.2 Jan 4 17.3
Dec 22 30.1 Dec 29 43.9 Jan 5 17.9

 



About the Author

Mitch Metcalf
MITCH METCALF has been tracking every US film release of over 500 screens (over 2300 movies and counting) since the storied weekend of May 20, 1994, when Maverick and Beverly Hills Cop 3 inspired countless aficionados to devote their lives to the art of cinema. Prior to that, he studied Politics and Economics at Princeton in order to prepare for his dream of working in television. He has been Head of West Coast Research at ABC, then moved to NBC in 2000 and became Head of Scheduling for 11 years.