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'Avatar' Scores Again! Leads Biggest B.O. Weekend Ever Date: 12/29/2009 |
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Guy Ritchie?s Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey, Jr. set a new Christmas weekend box office debut record with an estimated $65.4 million, but it wasn?t enough to win the weekend crown, which went to James Cameron?s holdover Avatar. Avatar dropped a miniscule 2.6% as it brought in a stellar estimated total of $77 million. Fox, which released Avatar, also had the #3 film, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakwell, which brought in an estimated $50.2 million. Add in Universal?s geriatric rom com, It?s Complicated, which debuted to $22.1 million and strong performances from Up in the Air (up 266% to $11.8 million) and The Blind Side (up 17% to $11.7 million despite losing 671 theaters) and the weekend total was north of $285 million, a performance that obliterated the previous record-setting frame when The Dark Knight debuted in July of 2008 and drove the weekend total to $260 million. Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): December 25-27, 2009 Rank Film Weekend Gross Screens Avg./Screen 1 Avatar $75,000,000 3,456 $21,701 2 Sherlock Holmes $65,380,000 3,626 $18,031 3 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel $50,200,000 3,700 $13,568 4 It's Complicated $22,114,000 2,887 $7,660 5 Up in the Air $11,755,000 1,895 $6,203 6 The Blind Side $11,730,000 2,766 $4,241 7 The Princess and the Frog $8,683,000 3,475 $2,499 8 Nine $5,544,000 1,412 $3,926 9 Did You Hear About the Morgans? $5,000,000 2,718 $1,840 10 Invictus $4,390,000 2,160 $2,032 Avatar can now be considered a true phenomenon. It has earned $212.3 million domestically in just ten days. The film added $145 million in international ticket sales this weekend, bringing its worldwide total to $617.3 million. In spite of its enormous cost (see ?Avatar Predicted to Earn $250 Million?), Cameron?s Avatar has already surpassed expectations, proven to be a ?game-changer,? and will certainly earn a profit at the worldwide box office, where a total topping a billion dollars appears to be a definite possibility. The ?PG-13? rated Sherlock Holmes started off with a bang, garnering a Christmas weekend single-day record $24.8 million, but eventually fell behind Avatar, whose second weekend in theaters may have been helped by the snowstorm that depressed its opening weekend totals, but left many potential East Coast patrons no option, but waiting for the film?s second frame. Even though it lost the weekend box office crown, Ritchie?s Sherlock Holmes surpassed most expectations and the film?s mammoth debut total helped Warner Bros. become the first studio to earn over $2 billion at the box office in a single year. Showing broad appeal for a period film, Sherlock Holmes attracted an audience that was 54% male and 50% over 30. Fox?s chipmunk sequel attracted a crowd that was 60% female, with families making up over 70% of the audience. The Squeakwell, which earned over $50 million, outdid the original, which debuted with $44.3 million on its way to an enormous domestic cumulative of $217.3 million. While The Squeakwell skewed young, It?s Complicated, which stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin in a saga of love among the Geritol and Viagra set, appealed to the other end of the demographic spectrum, bringing in a crowd that was 72% female and 75% over 30. It?s Complicated?s top competition for the intelligent comedy crowd, the George Clooney-starring Up in the Air expanded to 1,895 theaters and nearly matched It?s Complicated?s per theater average ($6,203 to $7,660). In spite of competition for its core audience from Alvin and the Chipmunks, Disney?s 2-D animated The Princess of the Frog posted just a 28% decline and remained in the top 10 at #7. |
| Source: ICv2 |
