With today being Christmas Eve and all, which is typically one of the best days to go to the movies free of crowds (unless your theater is located at a mall, then you’re screwed), you probably want to get an idea of what people are watching this holiday. This Christmas holiday has proved interesting as studios have been releasing their films on different days. Starting last week with IMAX’s early week engagement of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s Tuesday night drop, to Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo‘s traditional Friday opening.
So far, Paramount’s decision to give Mission: Impossible a one-week head start has proven to be a key to its success. A strong first weekend in limited release matched with strong critical praise (currently 93% on RT) has helped to build word of mouth among theatergoers.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows trailed Ghost Protocol by an estimated $3 million to place second, while We Bought a Zoo could only manage $3 million gross with its Friday opening.
Still, the question remains on how well Steven Spielberg’s dual threat of The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse will do. Tintin has made $8.4 million since opening on Wednesday, but is already an international hit with more than $235 million in earnings. His World War I drama War Horse opens Sunday, Christmas Day.
Here are the current box office estimations, according to Deadline Hollywood.
1. Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 2 [3,448 Theaters]
Debuted Friday December 16 in limited release; Expanded Tuesday night December 20; Officially went wide Wednesday December 21
Tuesday $1.7M, Wednesday $8.9M (including $2M midnights), Thursday $6.2M, Friday $9.5M
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $20.1M, Estimated 4-day Holiday $37.5M
Estimated Domestic Cume $61.5M, Estimated International Cume $105M
2. Sherlock Holmes: Game Of Shadows (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,703 Theaters]
Opened wide Friday December 16
Wednesday $4.2M, Thursday $4.8M, Friday $6.5M
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $16.6M (-58%), Estimated 4-Day Holiday $26.7M
Estimated Domestic Cume $83.6M, Estimated International Cume $27.1M
3. Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (Fox) Week 1 [3,726 Theaters]
Opened wide Friday December 16
Wednesday $3.5M, Thursday $3.9M, Friday $5.4M
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $12.2M (-47%), Estimated 4-Day Holiday $21.6M
Estimated Domestic Cume $57.1M
4. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Sony) NEW [2,914 Theaters]
Debuted Tuesday night December 20; Opened Wednesday December 21
Tuesday $1.6M, Wednesday $5M, Thursday $3.1M, Friday $4.6M
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $12.3M, Estimated 4-Day Holiday $19.2M
Estimated Domestic Cume $26.9M, Estimated International Cume $950K
5. The Adventures Of Tintin (Paramount) NEW [3,087 Theaters]
Opened Wednesday December 21
Wednesday $2.3M, Thursday $2.4M, Friday $3.7M
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $9.3M, Estimated 4-Day Holiday $14.5M
Estimated Domestic Cume $24M, Estimated International Cume (Sony) $241M
6. We Bought A Zoo (Fox) NEW [3,117 Theaters]
Friday $3M,
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $7.9M, Estimated 4-Day Holiday $12.3M
7. New Year’s Eve (Warner Bros) Week 3 [2,585 Theaters]
Friday $1.1M,
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $3.1M, Estimated 4-Day Holiday $4.7M, Cume $34.1M
8. Arthur Christmas (Sony) Week 5 [1,804 Theaters]
Friday $1M,
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $2.5M, Estimated 4-Day Holiday $4.2M
Estimated Cume $45.7M
9. The Muppets (Disney) Week 5 [1,859 Theaters]
Friday $983K,
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $2.3M, Estimated 4-Day Holiday $3.8M
Estimated Cume $77.4M
10) Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (Summit) Week 6 [1,603 Theaters]
Friday $639K,
Estimated 3-Day Weekend $1.5M, Estimated 4-Day Holiday $2.3M
Estimated Cume $271.1M
