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The first place finisher again on Tuesday was Yes Man, enjoying its fifth consecutive day at the top of the charts. Yes Man fell 6% from $3,610,321 on Monday to $3,403,394 on Tuesday. The $3.4 million yesterday reflects 52% retention from its Friday tally of $6,495,077. That's perfectly acceptable behavior given the information above if a bit on the low side with regards to the retention rate. Overall, this Tuesday data is neither reflective of remarkable early legs nor a quick flameout. Instead, Yes Man is acting like what it was: a relatively disappointing Jim Carrey comedy. The only thing laughable about it at the moment are those people who wanted to excuse its performance using the weather. One of these days, people will retire that tired logical fallacy once and for all. Until then, BOP will keep having fun with the silliness of it.

With regards to the other two openers this past weekend, here are the numbers. The Tale of Despereaux again usurps Seven Pounds' spot on the charts with another second place finish. A $2.47 million Tuesday is a decline of less than 1% from yesterday's $2.48 million. It is also 70% of the heroic mouse movie's Friday debut of $3.54 million. This one is showing clear signs of solid legs. Meanwhile, Seven Pounds falls short of the marks of Yes Man and Despereaux. Its $2,189,232 is a 5% drop from Monday's $2,310,779. That number also indicates a an alarming 42% retention rate from the title's $5,199,842 Friday debut. Seven Pounds is in some trouble.

Christmas Eve box office will reveal the anti-holiday box office phenomenon once more. You should expect all of the titles to fall around 40% from yesterday's total. The good news is that this is a temporary concern. Everything will double on Christmas Day and all titles in release will have several consecutive good days in that time frame. We also see the release of four new entries into the marketplace. Bedtime Stories is not only the largest of these but it is also expected to be the biggest December title. Marley & Me and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are also heavily anticipated titles. Conversely, MGM is faced with the difficult (some would say nearly impossible) task of marketing a Tom Cruise-in-an-eye patch Nazi movie. If that one is a hit, their advertising team all deserve Mark Teixeira-sized contracts.

Site note for Christmas Day: I will do an update for daily numbers on Thursday, but since I will be dressed in a Santa hat and PJs all day, it's obviously not going to be a large one. BOP will have new daily content throughout the holiday season. That doesn't mean we won't enjoy a couple of holidays for ourselves as well, though. As you read this, I am probably on the way to my annual family visit to my hometown, and you may or may not be traveling as well. Where you are, throw up some mistletoe, grab the one you love (or want to love) and make the magic happen. I speak for all of BOP when I say that we wish you the happiest of holiday seasons. Thanks so much for reading us every day and helping contribute to our success. We couldn't do it without you.

Daily Box Office for December 23, 2008
Rank	Title	Distributor	Daily Gross	Venue Count	Domestic Gross
1	Yes Man	Warner Bros.	$3,403,394	3,434	$25,276,186
2	The Tale of Despereaux	Universal	$2,483,145	3,104	$12,586,820
3	Seven Pounds	Sony	$2,189,232	2,758	$19,351,147
4	The Day The Earth Stood Still	Fox	$1,701,041	3,560	$51,850,169
5	Four Christmases	Warner Bros.	$1,618,266	3,515	$103,297,497
6	Bolt	Disney	$1,330,524	2,968	$97,538,409
7	Twilight	Summit	$1,299,727	2,991	$161,076,707
8	Slumdog Millionaire	Fox Searchlight	$592,638	589	$13,182,886
9	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Paramount	$530,468	2,007	$42,219,352
10	Quantum of Solace	Sony	$491,922	1,874	$162,156,684
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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