Moviegoers will have a lot to choose from under the big box office tree this Christmas holiday -- in fact, they might even have too many choices.
Beginning next weekend with the release of "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," and sequels to "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Sherlock Holmes," an unprecedented number of big studio films will be crowding into the domestic box office at the same time.
From Dec. 16 through Christmas Day, eight films will be released wide (see chart) - including two by Steven Spielberg - while about a half-dozen specialty titles will either enter the market or expand their footprint.
The major studios will be packing in these expensive films at a time when business has been weak, with box office revenue down 4 percent year-to-year and attendance plunging 5 percent, according to Hollywood.com's Paul Dergarabedian.
This weekend the box office had its worst performance since September, 2008. Which begs the question: Is there enough audience for all these films?
"It's a crowded marketplace, and [studios] are banking on audiences being there," said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal Pictures. "We'll see what the market can bear."
"I have never seen so many movies going at the same weekend, ever," another distribution executive told TheWrap. "Sometimes there's four and five movies. Six is an awful lot. But six of this caliber -- and at least most of them are high-caliber -- it's insane."
The box office will go into overdrive starting Wednesday Dec. 21, with the openings of "The Adventures of Tintin," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and "We Bought a Zoo." This holiday crush will be punctuated on Christmas Day, when DreamWorks opens Steven Spielberg's "War Horse."
Summit is also opening the sci-fi thriller "The Darkest Hour" wide that same week.
And the debuts of anticipated adult dramas "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" and "Albert Nobbs" will only crowd the market further.
With the domestic market currently hovering at around $9.56 billion, the film industry will have to gross an additional $1 billion in the next few weeks just to match the $10.57 billion it took in last year.
These big movies certainly seem capable of moving the needle in that direction.
Also read: Scorsese's 'Hugo' Faces Tough Road to Profitability After Soft Opening
But many of the movies opening on Christmas weekend look to be in competition for the same audience. Several distribution executives worried that the Christmas weekend could pan out like Thanksgiving holiday, when family films "Arthur Christmas," "Hugo" and "The Muppets" all competed for the same audience.
