Weekend Wrap-Up
Avatar Closes Book of Eli
By John Hamann
January 17, 2010
Fourth spot goes to the Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel, as kids' films show big legs over the MLK weekend. Now in its fourth frame, Alvin and Company earned $11.5 million and dropped 31% compared to its $16.5 million haul next weekend. The noisy $75 million production has now earned $192.6 million, and will be headed toward $200 million over the next few weekends. It has also earned over $140 million overseas. Sad, but true.
Fifth spot goes to Sherlock Holmes, which recovers somewhat after dropping 55% in the last frame. Holmes brought in another $9.8 million and dropped a not bad 41% compared to last weekend. The Robert Downey Jr. flick has now earned $180 million – surprisingly less than the Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel.
Jackie Chan's The Spy Next Door opens in sixth this weekend, and from the previews I've seen, that has to be considered a victory. The Lionsgate film opened to $9.7 million from 2,924 venues, giving it an awful venue average of $3,317. This one was only 7% fresh at RottenTomatoes, as only three reviewers out of 45 found something to like. This one will hopefully disappear out of the top ten faster than Conan O'Brien from NBC.
It's Complicated finishes seventh, down two spots from last weekend. The Meryl Streep comedy took in another $7.7 million and was off 30% from the previous frame. The Universal comedy finally outgrossed its production budget of $85 million this weekend, as it now has a cume of $88.2 million. It will finish with about $110 million, and will be Streep's second film to gross more than a $100 million since 2008.
Leap Year was able to hold fairly well, as the Amy Adams flick managed to not drop off the face of the earth (notice no Daybreakers yet, right?). Leap Year earned another $5.9 million this weekend, and dropped a fair 36% compared to last weekend. I say fair as this one was only 18% fresh at RT, so to managed this decent hold has to be considered a win for Universal. Against a budget of $20 million, Leap Year has now grossed $17.5 million.
Ninth spot goes to The Blind Side. Now in its ninth weekend, the Sandra Bullock film earned $5.6 million, and dropped only 26%. The tally for this Alcon Entertainment entry has now reached $226.8 million, with $250 million not out of the realm of possibility.
Finishing tenth is Up in the Air, which is going to need some Golden Globe wins tonight to keep its momentum going toward Oscar nominations, which come out during the first week of February. This weekend, the George Clooney flick took in $5.5 million, off 24% from last weekend. Up in the Air has a running total of $62.8 million.
After debuting last weekend in fourth spot with over $15 million, Daybreakers fails to make the top ten this weekend. Its gross was only $5 million, giving it a searing drop of 67%. The Lionsgate entry goes from possible sequel candidate to barely making any money by weekend two.
Overall, the top 12 at the box office was up against the biggest MLK weekend take ever, which happened last year, when Paul Blart was on top with $31.8 million. The Kevin James comedy wasn't the only big opener, as Hotel For Dogs, Notorious and My Bloody Valentine in 3-D all opened above $17 million, giving the top 12 a total of $164.8 million. This weekend, the top 12 was still very strong, but couldn't beat that record, as the gross came in at $153.4 million. Next weekend's competition for Avatar's run at six straight weekends on top is Legion from Sony Screen Gems, and The Tooth Fairy with The Rock. Check back next weekend to see if they can take down Avatar.
| 1 |
Avatar |
20th Century Fox |
$41,300,000 |
$42,785,612 |
- 14.9% |
$504,868,451 |
| 2 |
Book of Eli |
WARNER BROS. |
N/A |
$10,540 |
New |
$504,868,451 |
| 3 |
The Lovely Bones |
DreamWorks |
$17,060,000 |
$17,005,133 |
+43986.7% |
$20,377,011 |
| 4 |
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel |
20th Century Fox |
$11,500,000 |
$11,619,949 |
- 29.9% |
$196,397,651 |
| 5 |
The Spy Next Door |
Lionsgate |
$9,700,000 |
$3,326 |
New |
$196,397,651 |
| 6 |
Sherlock Holmes |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
$9,825,000 |
$9,889,154 |
- 40.4% |
$182,226,907 |
| 7 |
It's Complicated |
Universal |
$7,671,510 |
$8,112,555 |
- 26.3% |
$90,174,635 |
| 8 |
Leap Year |
Universal Pictures |
$5,877,840 |
$5,928,510 |
- 35.6% |
$18,772,640 |
| 9 |
The Blind Side |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$5,565,000 |
$5,557,274 |
- 26.2% |
$228,181,615 |
| 10 |
Up in the Air |
Paramount |
$5,460,000 |
$5,445,379 |
- 23.9% |
$63,903,119 |
| 11 |
Daybreakers |
Lionsgate |
$5,000,000 |
$5,185,554 |
- 65.8% |
$25,320,873 |
| 12 |
The Princess and the Frog |
Walt Disney Pictures |
$2,732,000 |
$2,777,707 |
- 40.3% |
$97,534,038 |
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Also Opening/Notables |
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Click here for all weekend data
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Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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