Weekend Wrap-Up
Thanksgiving Box Office Red Hot Thanks to Openers, Holdovers
By John Hamann
November 25, 2012
Sixth is Wreck-It Ralph, which powered through the competition to have a very strong Thanksgiving weekend at the box office. Despite Rise of the Guardians showing up, the Disney release was still strong. In its fourth weekend, Ralph earned $16.8 million over three days, and dropped a small 10%. The $165 million Wreck-It Ralph has now earned $149.5 million stateside, and is just getting started overseas.
Seventh is Red Dawn, as even the critically-reviled, totally implausible film had an okay Thanksgiving (right, Twilight?). Red Dawn, the remake of the '80s actioner that launched many careers, earned $14.6 million over three days, and $22 million over five days this holiday weekend. The $65 million release sat on the shelf since 2009 (or three Twilights ago), but shook off that stench of failure this weekend and at least got over the $10 million mark. With foreign grosses, it could be possible that this one even makes money, but that’s still a ways off. Reviews were awful as expected, with an 11% fresh rating at RottenTomatoes, despite starring Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson.
Eighth spot goes to Flight, another holdover that showed some muscle this weekend. Last weekend, Flight finished with $8.8 million. Over the three-day portion of the Thanksgiving weekend, the Denzel Washington film earned $8.6 million, giving it a drop of just 2%. Made for only $31 million, Flight has now earned almost three times that amount, as it has pulled in $74.9 million so far.
The next big thing finishes ninth this weekend. Silver Linings Playbook, the critical darling with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, was out to only 367 theaters. Even so, the film still shone this weekend, pulling in $4.6 million over three days, giving it a venue average of $12,597. Playbook - and its 89% fresh rating - has a long way to go before it’s through, but is off to a very strong start. Considering the time of year, we’ve already had a strong start toward Oscar season.
Finally in tenth is Argo, another film that had a strong hold over the Thanksgiving frame. The Ben Affleck film earned another $3.9 million this weekend, and declines a tiny 4% in the process. The $45 million Warner Bros. thriller has now earned $98.1 million as it climbs its way toward the $100 million mark.
Overall this weekend, and for the third consecutive weekend, things are very, very good at theaters. Three weekends ago when Skyfall opened, the top 12 took in $163 million. Then, Breaking Dawn Part 2 opened, and lifted the box office to $242.4 million. This weekend, the box office brought in $200.4 million. Last year, when Breaking Dawn Part 1 was on top over the turkey frame, the top 12 took in a lighter $155.4 million, and Thanksgiving the year earlier brought in $177 million. Next weekend brings Brad Pitt’s well-reviewed film Killing Them Softly, and likely more screens for Silver Lining Playbook and Lincoln. Check back next weekend to see if the roll we’re on continues.
| 1 |
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 |
Summit/lionsgate |
$43,070,000 |
- 69% |
$226,950,682 |
| 2 |
Skyfall |
SONY |
$36,000,000 |
- 12% |
$221,700,000 |
| 3 |
Lincoln |
WALT DISNEY |
$25,020,000 |
+ 19% |
$62,177,000 |
| 4 |
Rise of the Guardians |
PARAMOUNT |
$24,025,000 |
New |
$32,607,000 |
| 5 |
Life of Pi |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$22,000,000 |
New |
$30,150,000 |
| 6 |
Wreck-It Ralph |
WALT DISNEY |
$16,760,000 |
- 10% |
$149,512,000 |
| 7 |
Red Dawn |
MGM |
$14,600,000 |
New |
$22,000,000 |
| 8 |
Flight |
PARAMOUNT |
$8,600,000 |
- 2% |
$74,880,000 |
| 9 |
Silver Linings Playbook |
Weinstein Co. |
$4,623,000 |
+ 944% |
$6,450,643 |
| 10 |
Argo |
Warner Bros. |
$3,875,000 |
- 4% |
$98,114,000 |
| 11 |
Taken 2 |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$975,000 |
- 54% |
$136,502,898 |
| 12 |
Anna Karenina |
Focus Features |
$831,732 |
+ 159% |
$1,464,977 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Hitchcock |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$300,799 |
New |
$300,799 |
| |
Rust And Bone |
Sony Classics |
$30,196 |
New |
$30,196 |
| |
The Sessions |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$700,000 |
- 23% |
$3,906,333 |
| |
Pitch Perfect |
Universal |
$745,380 |
- 41% |
$62,606,413 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
|
Continued:
1
2
3
|
|
|
|
Print this column
