WEEKLY BOX OFFICE WRAP: DEC. 24th-26th

December 24-26

(Note: Some figures are reflecting adjusted grosses since they had an earlier release date that is included)

What a variety for the 2010 holiday crowd this year. Among the box office hits were movies of fantasy, true stories, sequels, remakes, and re-imaginings-oh my! The three films in the Top 10 that were bumped from last week’s listing were HOW DO YOU KNOW, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHY HALLOWS PART 1, AND UNSTOPPABLE, and 3 new releases moved into the empty slots.

LITTLE FOCKERS, the third installment in an extremely lucrative franchise about the family Universal built, was released on December 22, 2010 and has a total gross of $45,083,800 in 3,536 theaters averaging $8,720 each. If these numbers keep up, this trilogy has its’ eyes on track to make up a billion dollar trio for the studio.

The remake of TRUE GRIT by the Coen Brothers came galloping in with strong numbers in second place. Paramount released this feature on December 22, 2010, and has since reigned in a solid $36,068,000 in 3,047 theaters with an average $8,156, almost recovering the released budget of $38 million in less than one week.

The last of the new releases this week that sailed into the Top 10 was Fox studio’s GULLIVER’S TRAVELS. Jack Black can usually reel in some large numbers, but not this trip. Even though it landed at number eight in the box office standings this week, the $6,307,691 is small compared to the top two films. It was released on December 25th in only 2,546 theaters, but still only an average of $2,477 per theater which was disappointing.

The rest of the new releases were almost unknown or in an extremely limited release phase. TEES MAAR KHAN, a Bollywood film by Farah Khan; SOMEWHERE By Sofia Coppola; THE ILLUSIONIST (2010), an animated foreign film; COUNTRY STRONG awaiting the wide release January 7, 2011; HADEWIJCH by French writer/director Bruno Dumont; SUMMER WARS (a dubbed 2009 Japanese animated film); finally, last but not least, NENETTE, a documentary of an aged orangutan by Nicolas Philibert.

And now for the weekly rankings…

The Top 10 (12/24-26)

1.LITTLE FOCKERS $30,833,665

2.TRUE GRIT (2010) $24,850,000

3.TRON:LEGACY $19,151,498

4.THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER $9,478,043

5.YOGI BEAR $7,835,000

6.THE FIGHTER $7,605,000

7.TANGLED $6,427,816

8.GULLIVER’S TRAVELS $6,307,691

9.BLACK SWAN $6,254,986

10.THE TOURIST $5,400,000