Weekend Wrap-Up: Christmas Catch-Up

January 3, 2013

All of the final box office numbers we're going to get are in, so let's take a look at the last two weeks at the box office. There were not a lot of changes with the final numbers and no film switched places, so there's not a lot to update. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey remained in top spot in both weeks with Django Unchained in close second this weekend and Jack Reacher a distant second the weekend before. The year ended with $10.76 billion, or about 5.8% higher than last year's total and just a hair above 2009's record total.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey won both weekends with $36.88 million and $31.93 million respectively. This is very close to studio estimates. It has $221.63 million after 17 days of release, which is enough to assure a profit, assuming it can do as well internationally and on the home market. It is disappointing compared to expectations, on the other hand.

Django Unchained rose with its reviews to second place with $30.12 million over the weekend for a total of $63.44 million since Tuesday. At this pace, it will reach $100 million with ease, maybe as soon as this time next week, while if it can pick up a number of major Awards Season wins, it should become Quentin Tarantino's biggest hit ever.

Les Miserables earned third place with $27.28 million over the weekend for a total of $66.72 million since Tuesday. It went from first on the daily chart opening day to third over the weekend, which shows its legs will likely not be as strong as the other Christmas Day release. It has earned great reviews and it is a favorite to pick up several Oscar nominations, and at least two wins (Anne Hathaway for Best Supporting Actress and at the very least one technical award). However, it is not as good as many were hoping it would be. That said, $125 million to $150 million is the likely final box office, and since it only cost $61 million to make, that's more than enough to ensure a profit before the home market.

Likewise, Parental Guidance has already earned more at the box office than it cost to make with an early total of $29.34 million, including $14.55 million over the weekend. Its reviews are bad, there's no getting around that, but it is a safe family film and that should help its legs going forward. Assuming it can reach $50 million during its run, it will earn a profit sometime on the home market, regardless of how well it does internationally.

Jack Reacher's final numbers were a little lower than original estimates at $13.60 million over the weekend for a total of $44.16 million after two. Fortunately it wasn't as costly as originally reported, so it will likely earn a profit early on the home market.

The crowded sophomore class was led by This is 40, which landed in sixth place with $12.50 million over the weekend for a total of $36.43 million. It rose by 8%, which was about average for the top ten. It will finish as a midlevel hit, but no more.

The Guilt Trip rose 24% to $6.55 million over the weekend for a total of $20.96 million after twelve days of release. It will likely see its theater count cut pretty drastically over the coming weeks and it will mostly be forgotten.

Monsters, Inc. pulled in $6.45 million over the weekend for totals of $18.57 million over the twelve days it's been in re-release and $274.44 million overall. Its 3-D re-release is not a success in and of itself, but can be seen as ad for the upcoming sequel, in which case it is too soon to tell. Granted, the conversion to 3-D tends to cost just $12 million, so it won't lose a lot of money, but I'm not sure a lot of studios will continue with 3-D re-releases.

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away fell to 14th place with $2.40 million over the weekend for a total of $7.43 million. This isn't a complete disaster, given its theater count, but it is far from a success.


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Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Monsters, Inc., The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Guilt Trip, This is 40, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Parental Guidance, Django, Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away, Jack Reacher, Anne Hathaway, Quentin Tarantino