With studios dropping lumps of coal into North American multiplexes, many moviegoers stayed away over the Christmas holiday weekend as the box office fell sharply from recent years. Christmas Eve fell on a Friday helping to disrupt business, but a lack of exciting product prevented any one film from becoming a sensation.
Universal saved itself from ending the year with only one number one hit with the comedy sequel Little Fockers which topped the yuletide frame with $30.8M from Friday-to-Sunday, according to final studio figures. The critically panned pic grabbed $45.1M since its Wednesday debut and joined Despicable Me as the studio's only releases in 2010 to open in the top spot. Fockers averaged $8,720 from 3,536 theaters over the weekend period.
Though claiming the box office crown, the Robert De Niro-Ben Stiller threequel attracted the worst reviews of the series and opened 36% below the $70.5M five-day Christmas launch of 2004's Meet the Fockers during the exact same days. Factor in rising ticket prices and a whopping 48% fewer people turned out for the latest installment.
With a $100M budget - hefty for a non-effects comedy - the new Fockers succeeded in funneling large paychecks to its principal cast members. Studio research showed that the audience was 57% female and 53% over 30. A poor B- CinemaScore grade indicates bad buzz in the days ahead from those who bought tickets already.
The Coen brothers gave Paramount a Christmas gift with the better-than-expected showing for True Grit which opened to $24.9M over the weekend and $36.1M across the five days since its Wednesday launch. Loved by critics, the PG-13 Western remake starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon averaged a sturdy $8,156 from 3,047 locations over the weekend which was especially impressive given the Friday hit all films took on Christmas Eve when many theaters close early. The lucrative holiday week ahead could help it make a run for the $100M club. Produced for only $38M, Grit should become a moneymaker despite how it fares overseas in the new year.
Bridges showed up in the number three position as well. Disney's pricey action film TRON: Legacy ranked third for the holiday frame with $19.2M falling a steep 57% from its top spot debut. The PG-rated effects pic has grossed $87.4M in ten days and will break nine digits before the end of the year on its way to possibly breaking $150M from North America as well.
Enjoying the smallest drop of any film in wide release, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader collected $9.5M representing a slim 24% dip. But Fox's 17-day cume for the big-budget 3D adventure rose to just $62.6M which was still below the $65.6M opening weekend of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from December 2005.
Family audiences rejected the 3D kidpic Yogi Bear which was hoping for a strong Christmas hold but instead suffered a 52% fall to $7.8M. With just $35.8M in ten days, the PG-rated pic will struggle to break even given the production cost and marketing expenses. Like so many others this holiday season, audiences are finding this to be a subpar 3D entry not worth paying extra money for.
Paramount's boxing drama The Fighter held up reasonably well in a crowded marketplace for adult dramas by dipping 37% to $7.6M. With $26.7M so far, the Mark Wahlberg-Christian Bale pic aims to use good word-of-mouth and awards buzz to keep it in the top ten over the weeks to come as the holiday turkeys fizzle away.
| # | Title | Dec 24 - 26 | Weeks | Cumulative | Distributor | ||||
| 1 | Little Fockers | $ 30,833,665 | 1 | $ 45,083,800 | Universal | ||||
| 2 | True Grit | 24,850,000 | 1 | 36,068,010 | Paramount | ||||
| 3 | TRON: Legacy | 19,151,498 | 2 | 87,373,703 | Buena Vista | ||||
| 4 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage... | 9,478,043 | 3 | 62,597,030 | Fox | ||||
| 5 | Yogi Bear | 7,835,000 | 2 | 35,820,312 | Warner Bros. | ||||
| 6 | The Fighter | 7,605,000 | 3 | 26,678,707 | Paramount | ||||
| 7 | Tangled | 6,427,816 | 5 | 143,695,323 | Buena Vista | ||||
| 8 | Gulliver's Travels | 6,307,691 | 1 | 6,307,691 | Fox | ||||
| 9 | Black Swan | 6,254,986 | 4 | 28,689,060 | Fox Searchlight | ||||
| 10 | The Tourist | 5,400,000 | 3 | 40,878,272 | Sony | ||||
| 11 | The King's Speech | 4,498,052 | 4 | 8,402,000 | Weinstein Co. | ||||
| 12 | How Do You Know | 3,550,000 | 2 | 15,155,000 | Sony | ||||
| 13 | Harry Potter/Deathly Hallows Part 1 | 3,160,000 | 6 | 272,812,000 | Warner Bros. | ||||
| 14 | Tees Maar Khan | 539,793 | 1 | 741,162 | UTV | ||||
| 15 | Burlesque | 370,000 | 5 | 36,758,000 | Sony | ||||
| 16 | Megamind | 354,000 | 8 | 142,710,000 | Paramount | ||||
| 17 | Unstoppable | 329,895 | 7 | 78,556,000 | Fox | ||||
| 18 | The Social Network | 280,000 | 13 | 92,338,530 | Sony | ||||
| 19 | Red | 198,000 | 10 | 88,891,088 | Summit | ||||
| 20 | 127 Hours | 190,258 | 7 | 9,862,158 | Fox Searchlight |
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