Weekend Wrap-Up

Holdovers Blind Side Openers at Thanksgiving Box Office

By John Hamann

November 29, 2009

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The Blind Side crosses the $100 million mark today, Sunday, only the film's tenth day of release, and brings with it another shocking statistic. The Blind Side joins huge films like Monsters vs. Aliens (opened to $59 million), Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (opened to $70 million over five days), and The Matrix Revolutions ($83.8 million over five days) as films that crossed the $100 million mark on their tenth day. The Blind Side has an awesome current total of $100.9 million.

The Thanksgiving weekend helped 2012 get back on the road toward $200 million, as the Roland Emmerich flick earned $17.8 million in its third weekend of release. It dropped a much better 32% this weekend, after plunging 59.5% in its second frame. Even if 2012 doesn't make $200 million domestically, it will still be a huge worldwide hit. The end of the world flick has already earned $350 million overseas, which will certainly help to cover the film's $200 million production cost. So far, 2012 has earned $138.7 million, and should add another $10 million in the upcoming frame.

We finally get to a new film as Old Dogs managed to land in fourth. The Robin Williams/John Travolta comedy earned $17.1 million from a very wide 3,425 venues, and had a sad average of $4,986. Its five-day gross came in at $24.4 million. Wild Hogs this is not, as that one was just as insipid, opening to $39.7 million, and eventually fooling people out of $168 million bucks. Wild Hogs was 14% fresh at RottenTomatoes, Old Dogs is 7% fresh. Best to avoid this rabid old dog.





Disney's A Christmas Carol lands in fifth, and much like director Robert Zemeckis's The Polar Express, the also-motion capture Christmas Carol took a ride on the Thanksgiving Bump. Last weekend A Christmas Carol grossed $12.3 million, this weekend that score is up 33% to $16.3 million. This has to be a huge relief to the folks at Disney, as this $200 million extravaganza needed a push to give it some momentum heading into December. It got it, and while it will likely drop to between $8 and $10 million next weekend, it should hold that weekend gross pretty tightly until shortly after Christmas. The Jim Carrey flick now has a total of $105.7 million.

Ninja Assassin finishes sixth, as the audience for this one was either still at New Moon, or seeing 2012 again. Assassin earned $13.3 million over three days from 2,503 venues and $21.2 million since Wednesday. It had a three-day venue average of $5,311. Marketing seemed to struggle with Assassin, almost to the point where Warner Bros. seemed uninterested in the success of the $40 million feature. This one also failed with critics, as it came in with a 28% fresh rating at RT.

Planet 51 lands in seventh, and despite being a sophomore family film, can't increase its box office in its second frame. After opening last weekend to $12.3 million, the animated feature fell 17% in its second frame to $10.2 million. The $50 million Sony feature has now earned $28.5 million.

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