'Blind Side' Takes Turkey Day From 'New Moon'

Friday box-office update:

Building momentum with family audiences, Warner football film "The Blind Side" actually outdrew "Twilight" sequel phenomenon "New Moon" at the domestic box office Thursday, taking in $9.5 million vs. $9.2 million, according to studio data.

Summit's "New Moon" is still expected to win the five-day holiday box-office race, with the film forecasted to finish at about $70 million.

Starring Sandra Bullock and Kathy Bates, "Blind Side" is expected to complete the five-day period at around $60 million, with its audience projected to grow more than 25 percent week-to-week from Friday through Sunday.

Meanwhile, also experiencing a ticket-selling spike on Thanksgiving, "Disney's A Christmas Carol" finished third Thursday with $3.8 million. The $200 million Robert Zemeckis 3D movie is also on pace to finish in the third-or-fourth-place area overall during the holiday, with projections putting its five-day total at over $26 million.

If those forecasts hold true, the latest Charles Dickens adaptation will have grossed about $109 million domestically after four weeks of release, with about three more weeks of 3D play left in it before "Avatar" arrives and takes its screens away. Disney also has the bulk of its foreign receipts still pending for the picture.

Disney also saw its new family-targeted live-action entry, "Old Dogs," finish fifth Thursday, with the $35 million film -- starring Robin Williams and John Travolta -- taking in $4.2 million and on pace for about $27 million over the five days of the Thanksgiving holiday.

As for other new entries, Warner action film "Ninja Assasin" finished fourth Thursday with $4.6 million and is on track for a holiday of about $25 million.

Turkey Day box-office update:

Vampires, werewolves, homeless left tackles and global disasters continue to dominate the domestic box office going into the Thanksgiving holiday, leaving newer “dogs” out in the cold.

Meanwhile, another darkly themed Cormac McCarthy adaptation took its first steps to what its principals hope will be Oscar glory.

Finishing first again Wednesday as expected, Summit Entertainment’s “Twilight Saga: New Moon” added another $14.3 million to a domestic box-office total that now stands at $179 million after less than a week in release, according to studio estimates.

With the big Friday-after-Thanksgiving – traditionally the biggest movie-going day of the year – still pending, Summit Entertainment’s “Twilight” sequel is pace to collect over $70 million in domestic receipts over the five-day holiday period.

In second place, Warner sports dramedy “The Blind Side” starring Sandra Bullock is using exceptional word-of-mouth to pick up steam. That PG-13-rated film took in $7.9 million Wednesday. Its performance over the coming three-day weekend period is actually expected to be up about 25 percent over its premiere weekend.

In third place, Sony’s Roland Emmerich-directed “2012” continues to chug along, adding another $3.4 million to its domestic total.

Back in the pack behind three incumbents, Disney family-targeted live-action film “Old Dogs” also took in just $3.4 million Wednesday. The five-day projection for the poorly reviewed PG-rated movie, which stars John Travolta and Robin Williams, stands at $25 million.

Even further back in the pack, Warner’s Wachowski Bros.-produced action film “Ninja Assassin” looks like it got whacked out of the gate, finishing in sixth place Wednesday with $2.5 million.

 

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