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This Is 40 drops to seventh, and despite never rising above third spot at the box office in its first weekend, will still be a decent sized success for Universal. This weekend, This Is 40 earned another $8.6 million and dropped 32% from last weekend. However, let’s remember that this one earned more in its second weekend than it did during its first, so has now seen weekends of $11.6 million, $12.5 million, and now $8.6 million. It has a domestic gross so far of $54.5 million and cost only $35 million to make. This Is 40 will likely reach $70 million before all is said and done, and will end up as one of Universal’s top seven films of 2012.

Eighth spot goes to Lincoln, which has now been in wide release for an incredible eight weekends. After increasing its gross by a whopping 33% last weekend, things get back to normal this weekend, as the Steven Spielberg flick earns another $5.3 million. It fell 28%, but is closer to flat when looking at the gross from the December 21-23 weekend ($5.5 million). Lincoln did everything right, and most of its moves went against the usual studio grain. It had its first wide weekend against the blockbuster The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, which every other studio avoided. Then, Lincoln had a strong second weekend against three big Thanksgiving openers. Next, it expanded against the opening weekend of The Hobbit and as mentioned, increased its take in weekend seven by 33%, despite dropping 327 screens. Lincoln has made all the right moves and has survived long enough to get to Oscar nominations, which will put more fuel in its tank. Remember, this one cost only $65 million to make, has a gross so far of $143.9 million, and could finish with as much as $175 million.

Ninth is The Guilt Trip, which manages to survive despite being the odd man out for the holiday lottery. This weekend, The Guilt Trip earned $4.5 million, and fell 31% from the previous frame. Since opening, though, The Guilt Trip has amassed only $31.2 million, and will finish with about half of what Parental Guidance will earn.

Finally in tenth is Promised Land, which stars Matt Damon and John Krasinski, and is directed by Gus Van Sant. This one has never been able to get over so-so reviews and its message, and is going to pay for it. Promised Land earned only $4.3 million from 1,676 venues, and will be a big miss for Focus Features.

In other box office news this weekend, Skyfall earned another $3.2 million this weekend, taking it close to the $300 million domestic mark. So far, the greatest Bond film ever has earned $296.9 million. Additionally, the Weinsteins expanded Silver Linings Playbook this weekend to 745 venues. It took in $3.6 million, which gives it a drop of only 11%. It has earned $34.7 million so far. Zero Dark Thirty also expanded this weekend to 60 venues and brought in $2.7 million. It had a venue average of $45,833 and has a gross so far of $4.5 million.

Overall, the box office starts out the year on the right note, with a top 12 gross of $126.3 million. In 2008, when the calendar configuration was the same, the top 12 earned $121.2 million. Last year, the first weekend of the year brought a virtually identical $126.2 million. Next weekend, Gangster Squad, which stars Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin and Emma Stone opens, along with A Haunted House, from the Wayans Brothers. Zero Dark Thirty also expands to wide release.

Top Weekend Box Office for 1/4/13-1/6/13 (Estimates)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3d	Lionsgate	$23,000,000	New	$23,000,000
2	Django Unchained	The Weinstein Company	$20,082,000	-33%	$106,351,000
3	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	Warner Bros.	$17,525,000	-45%	$263,820,000
4	Les Miserables (2012)	Universal	$16,117,000	-41%	$103,605,000
5	Parental Guidance	Twentieth Century Fox	$10,125,000	-30%	$52,761,000
6	Jack Reacher	Paramount	$9,300,000	-32%	$64,804,000
7	This is 40	Universal	$8,559,000	-32%	$54,460,000
8	Lincoln	DreamWorks	$5,258,000	-28%	$143,933,000
9	The Guilt Trip	Paramount	$4,530,000	-31%	$31,207,000
10	Promised Land	Focus Features	$4,312,000	+2,379%	$4,661,000
11	Monsters, Inc. 3D	WALT DISNEY	$3,923,000	-39%	$27,916,000
12	Silver Linings Playbook	The Weinstein Company	$3,611,000	-11%	$34,671,000
	Also Opening/Notables
	West of Memphis	Sony Classics	$8,400	-40%	$39,800
	Zero Dark Thirty	Sony/Columbia	$2,750,000	+769%	$4,460,000
	The Impossible	Lionsgate	$2,760,000	+1,412%	$3,417,000
	Amour	Sony Classics	$63,600	+6%	$315,000
	Not Fade Away	Paramount Vantage	$280,000	+411%	$427,000
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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