Holiday B.O. Up 17%: 'Blind Side' Pushes Past $100M

Sunday update:

The five-day Thanksgiving-holiday box office will end on a high note, up 17 percent over 2008, according to one studio's estimate, with Summit's "Twilight" sequel "New Moon" greatly diminished but still landing in the top spot, and other incumbents -- including Warner's "Blind Side" and "Disney's A Christmas Carol" -- spiking significantly from last week.

While the same films that drove the box office to record heights last weekend accounted for the bulk of holiday ticket sales, new entries did their part, as well. Disney's PG "Old Dogs" ($24.1 million) and Warner's Wachowski-produced actioner "Ninja Assassin" ($21 million) finished respectably in the middle of the pack.

Rounding out the top 10: "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Precious" and "The Men Who Stare at Goats." Landing at number 11, the Weinstein Company's awards hopeful, the Cormac McCarthy-adapted "The Road," which brought in $2 million in a 111-venue limited run.

For its part, "New Moon" saw its weekend tally drop about 70 percent from last week's opening -- the third best premiere ever. But it still had enough lift to lead the box-office with $66 million over the five-day period. The film has grossed $230.7 million domestically thus far.

"Blind Side," meanwhile, surged 18 percent from its premiere weekend, finishing second overall over the five days with $57.8 million and driving its two-week cumulative total to $100.2 million.

Also experiencing a significant weekend-to-weekend bump -- 36 percent -- despite losing 565 venues, Disney's Robert Zemeckis-directed "Christmas Carol" took in $22.5 million over the holiday, pushing its four-week cumulative total past $105 million.

Other strong finishers included Sony Roland Emmerich film "2012," which added $25.6 million to its domestic coffers and now has a worldwide total of $594.5 million

More to come...

Saturday  update:

After a massive premiere that produced the third biggest three-day opening ever, Summit Entertainment's "Twilight Saga: New Moon" is slowing down a bit.

Meanwhile, after premiering to one of the 14 best CinemaScore marks of all time, Warner's "The Blind Side" is gaining momentum.

The result was a rather contested day-after-Thanksgiving box office, traditionally huge for movie-going, with the "Twilight" sequel narrowly edging out "Blind Side" by a margin of $17.9 million vs. $16.2 million.

For "Blind Side," directed by sports-movie specialist John Lee Hancock ("The Rookie") and starring Sandra Bullock, the Friday performance represented a 47 percent spike from its premiere a week prior. The film is pacing to finish the five-day Thanksgiving holiday with more than $58 million, which would push its cumulative two-week total past the $100 million mark.

"New Moon," meanwhile, experienced a sharp 76 percent drop from its previous Friday, when it enjoyed the best single-day box-office opening ever. The film is on pace for a five-day holiday gross of about $66.5 million, slightly less than the $70 projected earlier but still enough to lead the overall market. Even better for Summit, it has now grossed more than $200 million domestically after less than two weeks in theaters.

Incumbents continued to dominate the box office Friday, with "Disney's A Christmas Carol" picking up steam in the same way an earlier Robert Zemeckis computer-animated holiday film, "The Polar Express," did five years ago.

The 3D Charles Dickens adaptation took in $6.7 million Friday -- a 118 percent week-over-week spike -- and is projected to finish the five-day holiday weekend with about $24 million.

 

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