While The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey held onto the
box office ring this weekend, North American
moviegoers didn't exactly rush to open the new films
entering under Hollywood's pre-Christmas tree. Jack
Reacher, the Tom Cruise action movie, opened in the
second slot to an estimated $15.6 million, while Judd
Apatow's latest comedy This Is 40 bowed in third place
with $12 million. The Guilt Trip, the mother-son comedy
starring Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen, lagged
behind in the sixth spot with a tepid $5.39 million.
Launching with an exclusive release in just five theaters,
Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow's controversial film
about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, racked up big
numbers, collecting $410,000 for a per-theater average
of $82,000.
While the final weekend before Christmas is traditionally
slow as movies compete with holiday preparations, the
box office is expected to pick up on Christmas Day, and
for the new films that could mean stronger-than-usual
holds which could boost their ultimate domestic grosses.
Hobbit, as it entered its second weekend, easily claimed
the top position. The Warner's release, which is playing in
a combination of 4,100 2D, 3D and Imax locations,
grossed $36.7 million, dropping 57 percent from its
opening weekend as it cumulative domestic gross rose to
$149.9 million. Internationally, the movie took in $91
million, bringing its collective worldwide purse to $433.9
million.
Reacher, based on Lee Child's popular book series,
appealed to older males as it carved out a position at the
box office, earning an A- Cinemascore. The PG-13 rated
Paramount release, written and directed by Christopher
McQuarrie, and produced by the studio and Skydance
Productions at a cost of $60 million, opened in 3,352
theaters in line with such other Cruise entries as 2002's
Collateral (which bowed to $15.1 million and went on to
gross $40 million domestically) and 2008's Valkyrie
(which opened on a Christmas Day, grossing $21.02
million in first weekend, with an eventual take of $83.1
million.) "I think the movie found a sweet spot," said
Megan Colligan, Paramount president of domestic
marketing and distribution. "It's has the action-hero
quality that older men love and has a great opportunity
to bring in teenage boys as the audience expands."
By contrast, 40, which stars Paul Rudd and Leslie
Mann, was playing to older females. Universal compared
the performance of the R-rated domestic comedy, which
earned $12 million in 2,913 locations, to such pre-
Christmas December bows as 2000's Family Man and
Miss Congeniality, which both opened to $10 million. "I
knew if we could get $10 million, and we did better than
that, then the box office for the movie would just get
better and better after Christmas Day," Nikki Rocco,
Universal distribution president, said.
Trip, a PG-13 comedy directed by Anne Fletcher, has a
tougher road ahead of it. The movie did open on
Wednesday, which siphoned some business away from
its $5.4 million weekend as it played in 2,431 locations,
and its cumulative gross now stands at $7.4 million.
Pixar's 2001 hit Monsters, Inc. returned to theaters this
weekend in a new 3D version. The Disney rerelease
picked up $5 million and ranked seventh. Its five-day
total is $6.5 million.
Paramount also used the weekend to introduce Cirque
Du Soleil: Worlds Away, a 3D feature directed by
Andrew Adamson and exec produced by James
Cameron that presents performances from various
Cirque stage shows. While the PG film bowed in 840
theaters, at each it played just two shows per day at
noon and 7 p.m. for what the studio characterized as a
paid preview. On Christmas Day, it will begin full
screening schedules at the participating theaters. This
weekend, it took in an initial $2.1 million and ranked
eleventh.
Rounding out the top ten: DreamWorks Animation's Rise
of the Guardians, with the benefit of its holiday-themed
storyline, hung on in fourth place, attracting an additional
$5.9 million to bring its domestic total to $79.7 million;
DreamWorks' Lincoln was fifth with $5.6 million and a
new tally of $116.8 million; MGM and Sony's Skyfall
ranked eighth with $4.7 million, bringing its domestic
gross to $280 million as its worldwide tally climbed to
$974.1 million; Fox's Life of Pi was ninth with $3.8 million
and a domestic haul of $76.2 million; and Summit's
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 was tenth with $2.6
million and $281.6 million domestically.
Overall, the weekend's collective box office, at about an
estimated $107 million, was soft, with a number of the
films competing for adult moviegoers who probably
won't show up in bigger numbers until Christmas Day and
beyond.
Among exclusive releases, though, there was lots of
activity, with Zero selling out many showings at the five
theaters where it is playing in New York and Los Angeles.
"It's a fantastic result for an extraordinary movie," said
Rory Bruer, Sony president of worldwide distribution.
Having opened on Wednesday, Dec. 19, the film has now
grossed $639,000. It will expand to limited release in 11
markets on Jan. 4, followed by a wide expansion on Jan.
11.
Sony Pictures Classics also found lots of takers for
Michael Haneke's French-language drama Amour,
which also bowed Dec. 19. Over the weekend, it grossed
$70,662 in three theaters for a per-theater average of
$23,554 and a total gross-to-date of $100,213.
The Impossible, Juan Antonio Bayona's feature about a
family separated by the 2004 tsunami that stars Naomi
Watts and Ewan McGregor, was launched by Summit
in 15 theaters. It took in $138,750 for a per-theater
average of $9,250.
Paramount Vantage raised the curtain on David Chase's
Not Fade Away, a look back at a '60s garage band, in
three theaters, where it collected $19,000 for a per-
theater average of $6,333.
