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.
Only one new movie opened in wide release this weekend, that being Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba's medical thriller Awake, but struck by the usual post-Thanksgiving decline, it grossed just $6 million in 2,000 theatres, allowing Disney's Enchanted and Sony/Screen Gems' ensemble holiday film This Christmas to remain in the Top 2 placements for a second weekend in a row.
As expected, every movie took a significant hit from the exaggerated holiday weekend with Disney's Enchanted, starring Amy Adams, dropping over 50% to take the top spot with $17 million, bringing its total gross to $70.6 million.
Sony/Screen Gems' ensemble holiday film This Christmas took a bigger hit of 53% but retained the #2 spot with $8.4 million, having made $36.9 million in 12 days.
Robert Zemeckis' $150 million animated epic Beowulf (Paramount) hasn't been able to sustain its opening business, dropping another 52% to $7.9 million in its third weekend. It has grossed just $68.6 million despite the help of Thanksgiving weekend.
Fox's action thriller Hitman dropped down a notch to fifth with $5.8 million and a total gross of $30.2 million after two weeks, while both of Warner Bros.' PG films Fred Claus and August Rush retained their positions in #6 and 7, respectively, both with just over $5 million.
After expanding nationwide and just missing the Top 10, Joel and Ethan Coen's acclaimed No Country for Old Men (Miramax) reentered the Top 10 in eighth place with $4.5 million, its 42% drop from last week being the smallest decrease from the holiday weekend.
The same can't be said for Jerry Seinfeld's animated Bee Movie (DreamWorks) which took a drastic hit of 62% following its four-week run to $117 million. That sum still keeps it just behind the $122 million grossed by Ridley Scott's crime drama American Gangster (Universal), which held onto the Top 10 with $4.3 million. To put the competition between the two movies into more perspective, Gangster cost 33% less than Bee Movie's estimated production budget of $150 million.
Opening on Wednesday in 4 theaters in New York and L.A., Tamara Jenkins'
The Savages (Fox Searchlight) brought in $186 thousand of business, averaging a decent $38 thousand per theatre over the weekend. Also opening in New York and L.A., Julian Schnabel's third film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax) followed up on strong festival reviews to take in $75 thousand in three theaters.
As is always the case, the box office dropped from the Thanksgiving weekend but it was also down significantly from the same post-Thanksgiving weekend last year where similarly, none of the new movies were able to defeat the incumbent Top 3, but the top 10 grossed $77 million to this weekend's $69 million, a 11% drop.
