The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Be sure to check back on Monday for final figures based on actual box office.
There was a shake-up in the Top 2 films at the box office, but it didn't come in the form of either of the star-studded debuts, as both Fred Claus (Warner Bros.) starring Vince Vaughn and Lions for Lambs (United Artists) starring Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep failed to beat either of last week's big openers. And yet, this weekend, the top spot went to DreamWorks' animated Bee Movie, which moved into the #1 position with an estimated $26 million. Its $72 million gross is still a long way from its $150 million production budget, but it brings it closer to the $80 million made by Ridley Scott's American Gangster (Universal) after ten days, as it dropped 44% with $24.3 million in its second weekend.
The family holiday comedy Fred Claus underperformed with $19.2 million in 3,603 theatres, settling for third, although the holiday themes guarantee that it will maintain strong business over the next month and a half.
Tom Cruise and Robert Redford teamed for the political drama Lions for Lambs (United Artists) but their combined star power with that of Meryl Streep failed to make more than $6.7 million in 2,215 theatres as it opened in fourth place.
The romantic comedy Dan in Real Life (Touchstone) starring Steve Carell dropped one place to #5 with $5.9 million in its third weekend, once again having a minimal drop-off of 25%. So far, it has grossed $30.7 million.
Part four of the horror franchise Saw IV continues to falter as it dropped another 52% in its third weekend to add $5 million to its cumulative take of $58.1 million.
The other horror movies didn't fare much better with newcomer P2 (Summit) just narrowly defeating 30 Days of Night (Sony) for 8th place, although P2's $2.2 million in 2,131 theatres isn't particularly impressive.
For a second year in a row, After Dark Films showed "8 Films to Die For" in their After Dark Horrorfest 2007, but it failed to find the success of its predecessor, grossing just $512 thousand in 323 theatres.
Joel and Ethan Coen's first movie in over three years, their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy No Country for Old Men, opened in 28 theatres in select cities where it scored an impressive $1.2 million, opening in 15th place with a terrific per-theatre average of nearly $43 thousand per theatre.
Two Bollywood films opened in select cities this weekend but Eros' Om Shanti Om beat the Sony-funded Saawariya by $1.5 million to $600 thousand.
The $95.6 million made by the Top 10 was down by 10% from the same weekend last year.
