The Warrior’s Weigh
The first weekend of December has the ignominious tradition of being one of the lowest moviegoing periods of the year. This year is no exception with but a single new wide release and holdover titles generally experiencing declines of more than 50%.
The newcomer arrived from the re-constituted Relativity Media with the martial arts actioner The Warrior’s Way. It barely squeaked into the top 10 with an estimated $3 million. Industry trackers hadn’t expected much for the picture but even their estimates were pegged significantly higher at roughly $5 million.
The frame leader was the animated Tangled with an estimated $21.5 million with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 taking the consolation prize with $16.9 million. The rest of the holdovers were indeed the deathly hallows.
However, there were a couple of spectacular exclusive debuts. The controversial and intense drama Black Swan bowed to $1.4 million, which translated into a jaw dropping per engagement average of $76,670. And the left-for-dead black comedy I Love You Phillip Morris hit the target with $109,000 from six locations and an $18,200 average. Also encouraging was the two-screen bow of the ironically titled All Good Things with $37,500.
The rest of the new niche crowd ranged from fair to poor including several new films on the Indian circuit, the independent Night Catches Us and the documentary Bhutto.
All added up, revenues amounted to about $86 million and a 54% drop from the weekend slice of Thanksgiving. It was also off 15% from the 2009 edition when the top new entry was third-ranked Brothers with $9.5 million. The 2009 leader with $20 million was The Blind Side.
Domestic box office should push past $10 billion next weekend and register a slight gain for the year when the dust settles in 26 days. It also unquestionably marks another year of theatrical admission declines; likely between 5% and 7%.
As to award’s contenders, it remains anyone’s game and last week’s announcement of honors from the National Board of Review provided scant indication of what’s to follow from major critical groups or the Hollywood Foreign Press. Apart from James L. Brooks’ How Do You Know, the anticipated upcoming releases have been seen and left prognosticators fumbling to identify leaders in any of the talent categories.
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Weekend Estimates – December 3-5, 2010
Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
Tangled | BV | 21.5 (5,970) | -56% | 3603 | 96.5 |
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows, Part 1* | WB | 16.9 (4,090) | -66% | 4125 | 244.4 |
Burlesque | Sony | 6.1 (2,020) | -49% | 3037 | 27 |
Unstoppable | Fox | 6.1 (1,930) | -47% | 3152 | 68.9 |
Love and Other Drugs | Fox | 5.7 (2,310) | -42% | 2458 | 22.6 |
Megamind | Par | 4.9 (1,550) | -61% | 3173 | 136.6 |
Due Date | WB | 4.2 (1,720) | -41% | 2450 | 91 |
Faster | CBS | 3.8 (1,550) | -55% | 2470 | 18.1 |
The Warrior’s Way | Relativity | 3.0 (1,870) | NEW | 1622 | 3 |
The Next Three Days | Lionsgate | 2.6 (1,150) | -45% | 2236 | 18.3 |
Morning Glory | Par | 1.7 (760) | -56% | 2263 | 29.1 |
127 Hours | Fox Searchlight | 1.6 (3,790) | -4% | 433 | 6.6 |
Black Swan | Fox Searchlight | 1.4 (76,670) | NEW | 18 | 1.4 |
Fair Game | Summit | 1.0 (2,320) | -27% | 436 | 7.3 |
Red | Summit | .75 (960) | -45% | 779 | 87.2 |
For Colored Girls … | Lionsgate | .45 (930) | -67% | 485 | 37.3 |
Lance et compte | Seville | .43 (4,480) | -31% | 96 | 1.3 |
Skyline | Uni/Alliance | .42 (730) | -63% | 578 | 20.9 |
The Social Network | Sony | .41 (1,580) | -42% | 260 | 91 |
The King’s Speech | Weinstein Co. | .32 (53,000) | -10% | 6 | 0.8 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $81.25 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | -15% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -54% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
I Love You Phillip Morris | Roadside | .11 (18,200) | 6 | 0.11 | |
Raktacharitra 2 | Viva/Happy | 94,200 (4,100) | 23 | 0.09 | |
Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey | Viva | 65,300 (960) | 68 | 0.07 | |
Nutcracker 3D | FreeStyle | 45,700 (1,040) | -31% | 44 | 0.14 |
Made in Dagenham | Sony Classics | 39,600 (3,600) | -37% | 11 | 0.18 |
All Good Things | Magnolia | 37,500 (18,750) | 2 | 0.04 | |
Dead Awake | New Film | 31,400 (570) | 55 | 0.03 | |
Mar Jawan Gur Khake | Punjabi | 18,800 (6,270) | 3 | 0.02 | |
Night Catches Us | Magnolia | 12,100 (3,020) | 4 | 0.01 | |
Bhutto | First Run | 7,800 (3,900) | 2 | 0.01 |
Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Dec. 2, 2010)
Distributor (releases) | Gross | Market Share |
Warner Bros. (27) | 1792.9 | 18.40% |
Paramount (18) | 1609.2 | 16.50% |
Fox (18) | 1371.7 | 14.00% |
Buena Vista (16) | 1252.3 | 12.80% |
Sony (24) | 1185.4 | 12.10% |
Universal (18) | 797.2 | 8.20% |
Summit (11) | 517.9 | 5.30% |
Lionsgate (15) | 512.4 | 5.20% |
Fox Searchlight (7) | 84.7 | 0.90% |
Overture (7) | 81.9 | 0.80% |
Focus (7) | 75.2 | 0.80% |
CBS (3) | 64.2 | 0.70% |
Weinstein Co. (8) | 63.1 | 0.70% |
Sony Classics (22) | 58.7 | 0.60% |
MGM (1) | 50.4 | 0.50% |
Other * (301) | 246.6 | 2.50% |
9763.8 | 100.00% | |
* none greater than .04% |
Top Global Grossers * (Jan. 1 – Dec. 2, 2010)
Title | Distributor | Gross |
Avatar * | Fox | 1,955,694,414 |
Toy Story 3 | BV | 1,065,128,004 |
Alice in Wonderland | BV | 1,024,537,295 |
Inception | WB | 840,550,911 |
Shrek Forever After | Par | 738,351,966 |
Twilight: Eclipse | Summit | 699,325,617 |
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 | WB | 634,033,738 |
Iron Man 2 | Par | 622,718,600 |
Despicable Me | Uni | 534,415,944 |
How to Train Your Dragon | Par | 495,921,283 |
Clash of the Titans | WB | 489,778,913 |
Sherlock Holmes * | WB | 367,796,599 |
The Karate Kid | Sony | 359,429,551 |
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | BV | 335,816,141 |
The Last Airbender | Par | 319,062,129 |
Robin Hood | Uni | 312,207,159 |
Shutter Island | Par | 301,977,955 |
Sex and the City 2 | WB | 301,158,934 |
Salt | Sony | 293,955,694 |
Resident Evil: Afterlife | Sony/Alliance | 292,972,689 |
The Expendables | Lionsgate | 272,550,235 |
Grown Ups | Sony | 271,417,359 |
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel | Fox | 264,341,533 |
Knight and Day | Fox | 261,206,060 |
Percy Jackson & the Olympians | Fox | 226,497,298 |
* does not include 2009 box office |