By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report (3 Day), Christmas Day
Blue, Blue Christmas
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was winner by default on Christmas weekend with a three-day estimated box office of $26.2 million.
In what shapes up as the un-merriest of Yuletides newcomers provided little cheer. The lost in translation Girl with a Dragon Tattoo ranked ourth overall with $12.9 million (all figures cover the three-day period) while the audience foreclosed on We Bought a Zoo on an $8 million tally. The Adventures of Tintin expanded nationally following excellent business in Quebec where the character is well known. It’s $9.3 million weekend was at best fair.
As for niche and exclusive bow, Bollywood’s Don 2 was comparatively buoyant with a $1.5 million gross from 161 engagements. The two Oscar qualifying playdates for Albert Nobbs rendered an encouraging $19,400 but the three venues for In the Land of Blood and Honey were disappointing with a $17,300 total.
Weekend revenues amounted to a dismal $112 million that translated into a 7% erosion from last weekend and a steeper 21% drop from 2011. Last year the debuts of Little Fockers and True Grit topped the charts with respective tallies of $30.8 million and $24.6 million.
The industry was dreading this holiday season with Christmas and New Years – traditionally poor movie going days – falling on Sundays. The current weekend should see a big boost on Monday with both War Horse and the sci-fi thriller The Darkest Hour opening wide along with the exclusive bow of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.
The sobering drop in both box office and admissions in 2011 has all sectors of the industry talking about the future of movie going. A few cheerleaders are insisting the past 12 months are an anomaly and strong 2012 titles will bring a reversal of fortunes.
More likely the studios will be exploring ways of aggressively exploiting other platforms to reach 18 to 25 year old males who have been the most noticeable part of the audience to experience declines. There are also rumblings of reduced ticket pricing. But whether the majors adapt by green lighting more projects for the mature audiences that now comprise the biggest slice of ticket buyers won’t be apparent for at least a year.
| Weekend (estimates) December 23 – 25, 2011 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Par | 26.2 (7,610) | 105% | 3448 | 58.7 |
| Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | WB | 18.1 (4,890) | -54% | 3703 | 76.8 |
| Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked | Fox | 13.2 (3,540) | -43% | 3734 | 50.2 |
| The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Sony | 12.9 (4,440) | NEW | 2914 | 21.3 |
| The Adventures of Tintin | Par | 9.3 (3,020) | 848% | 3087 | 17.3 |
| We Bought a Zoo | Fox | 8.0 (2,560) | NEW | 3117 | 8 |
| New Year’s Eve | WB | 3.0 (1,170) | -58% | 2585 | 32.4 |
| Arthur Christmas | Sony | 2.7 (1,510) | -24% | 1804 | 44.2 |
| The Muppets | BV | 2.5 (1,440) | -28% | 1752 | 76.1 |
| Hugo | Par | 2.0 (1,590) | -47% | 1236 | 43.6 |
| The Descendants | Fox Searchlight | 1.7 (2,130) | -47% | 813 | 32 |
| Don 2 | Big Pictures | 1.5 (9,500) | NEW | 161 | 1.6 |
| The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn | Summit | 1.4 (890) | -66% | 1603 | 270.2 |
| The Sitter | Fox | 1.4 (810) | -69% | 1786 | 21.9 |
| Young Adult | Par | 1.4 (1,450) | -58% | 987 | 6.8 |
| The Artist | Weinstein Co. | .74 (4,430) | 158% | 167 | 2.2 |
| Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy | Focus | .62 (11,700) | 36% | 53 | 1.7 |
| My Week with Marilyn | Weinstein Co. | .49 (810) | -17% | 602 | 6.9 |
| Puss in Boots | Par | .43 (1,110) | -8% | 389 | 143.7 |
| Happy Feet Two | WB | .25 (460) | -77% | 535 | 59.9 |
| A Dangerous Method | Sony Classics | .24 (4,170) | 61% | 58 | 1.1 |
| Jack and Jill | Sony | .23 (660) | -81% | 348 | 71.3 |
| Real Steel | BV | .19 (830) | 134% | 227 | 84 |
| Tower Heist | Uni | .18 (640) | -63% | 283 | 76.3 |
| Shame | Searchlight/Alliance | .13 (2,660) | -57% | 50 | 1.5 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $107.15 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -21% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -7% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Carnage | Sony Classics | 69,600 (9,940) | -13% | 7 | 0.19 |
| Rajana | Bharat | 51,100 (1,600) | 32 | 0.05 | |
| Albert Nobbs | Roadside | 19,400 (9,700) | 2 | 0.02 | |
| In the Land of Blood and Honey | Film District | 17,300 (5,770) | 3 | 0.02 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Dec. 18, 2011) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share | |||
| Paramount (22) | 1786.1 | 18.40% | |||
| Warner Bros. (29) | 1701.5 | 17.60% | |||
| Sony (28) | 1212.4 | 12.50% | |||
| Buena Vista (16) | 1182.9 | 12.20% | |||
| Universal (18) | 1039.4 | 10.70% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (18) | 868.3 | 9.00% | |||
| Summit (9) | 391.5 | 4.00% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (15) | 290.2 | 3.00% | |||
| Relativity (8) | 226.8 | 2.30% | |||
| Lions Gate (16) | 185 | 1.90% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (13) | 140.3 | 1.60% | |||
| Film District (4) | 125.9 | 1.30% | |||
| Focus (8) | 124.5 | 1.30% | |||
| Sony Classics (18) | 86.6 | 0.90% | |||
| CBS (3) | 57.5 | 0.60% | |||
| Other * (337) | 269.1 | 2.80% | |||
| 9688 | 100.00% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.35% | |||||
| Top Limited Releases * (Jan. 1 – Dec. 18, 2011) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross | |||
| The Descendants | Fox Searchlight | 28,645,909 | |||
| African Cats | BV | 15,428,747 | |||
| Born to Be Wild | WB | 14,786,945 | |||
| The Tree of Life | Searchlight/eOne | 13,305,665 | |||
| Jane Eyre | Focus | 11,242,660 | |||
| The Conspirator | Roadside Attractions | 11,538,204 | |||
| Win Win | Fox Searchlight | 10,182,869 | |||
| Hubble 3D * | Imax | 9,983,925 | |||
| Blue Valentine * | Weinstein Co. | 9,597,588 | |||
| Sarah’s Key | Weinstein Co./A-Z | 8,225,713 | |||
| Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain | Code Black | 7,706,436 | |||
| Barney’s Version * | eOne/Sony Classics | 7,130,176 | |||
| Cedar Rapids | Fox Searchlight | 6,861,102 | |||
| My Week with Marilyn | Weinstein Co. | 6,087,130 | |||
| Beginners | Focus | 5,855,346 | |||
| Cave of Forgotten Dreams | IFC/Kinosmith | 5,475,347 | |||
| The Guard | Sony Class/Alliance | 5,325,090 | |||
| Margin Call | Roadside/Alliance | 5,114,429 | |||
| Biutiful | Roadside Attractions | 5,101,237 | |||
| Under the Sea 3D * | Imax | 4,918,443 | |||
| * does not include 2010 box office |
If you judge the holiday weekend box office returns as a percentage of the film’s budget, this would be the true order of profitability:
1) Mission Impossible – 31.8%
2) We Bought A Zoo – 31.2%
3) Sherlock Holmes – 25.4%
4) Alvin and the Chipmunks – 25%
5) War Horse – 21.4%
6) Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – 19.4%
7) Darkest Hour – 18.3%
8) Tin Tin – 10.7%
So Mission Impossible and We Bought A Zoo are really the clear winners in this match-up.