Weekend Estimates: Ordinary Opening for Tron Leads Lacklustre Weekend

December 19, 2010

The weekend before Christmas brought little cheer to the movie industry, with Tron: Legacy posting a fairly ordinary $43.6 million opening, and the weekend's two other wide openers and one wide expansion missing the mark. Since Avatar was released this weekend last year, the year-on-year comparisons look bad for the industry as a whole, and 2010 looks certain to lag 2009 in tickets sold, and possibly in total revenue.

Tron's figures are far from disastrous, and the movie posted impressive IMAX figures ($10.3 million at an average North of $44,000), but it doesn't seem to have broken out of its fanboy niche. Yogi Bear 3D earned an estimated $16.7 million and will be helped by the holiday season, but its numbers are little more than a third of the opening weekend enjoyed by Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel last year.

The Fighter expanded into 2,503 theaters and picked up an estimated $12.2 million, which is pretty good for a drama, but somewhat disappointing considering the awards and nominations it has received in the last week or two. How Do You Know, meanwhile, is a bad mis-fire, earning $7.6 million on the back of a $120 million budget.

There are a couple of bright spots among limited releases. The King's Speech earned a robust $25,000 average as it expanded to 43 theaters and Black Swan pulled in $8.3 million as it moved into semi-wide release in 959 theaters. Rabbit Hole opened with $55,000 in five theaters, which is a good start, although its subject matter will likely make significant expansion a challenge.

- Weekend Estimates

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Tron: Legacy, Yogi Bear, How Do You Know?, Black Swan, The King’s Speech, Rabbit Hole