Source:Box Office Mojo, Edward Douglas

November 29, 2009

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office.

Thanksgiving weekend saw a healthy increase in business from last year but most of that business was divided between the same two movies that dominated last weekend as The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit) and Sandra Bullock's football drama The Blind Side (Warner Bros.) remained on top with $82 million between them over the three days after the holiday on Thursday.

The "Twilight" sequel dropped 70% from its record-setting opening weekend to earn an estimated $42.5 million over the three days and $66 million since Wednesday. It has earned $230.7 million in total since opening last week, 22% more than the previous installment grossed in its entire theatrical run. The popular supernatural romance also continues to do well internationally, having grossed roughly $85 million in other regions this weekend, adding up to a total worldwide gross of $473.7 million in just ten days.

The Blind Side (Warner Bros.) is already the surprise hit of the fall and holiday movie season, but it did even better in its second weekend than its first, grossing $40.1 million over the three-day weekend, up 17% from last week. Produced for less than $30 million, the sports-based drama has grossed an astounding $100.3 million in just ten days.

Roland Emmerich's disaster movie 2012 (Sony Pictures) took third place over the weekend with an estimated $18 million and a total gross of roughly $139 million after three weeks in theaters.

Disney's PG comedy Old Dogs, starring Robin Williams and John Travolta, settled for third place, opening with an estimated $16.8 million over the three-day weekend and $24.1 million since opening on Wednesday. With a moderate budget of $35 million, it's not a terrible opening but it's somewhat disappointing compared to how other PG Disney comedies have fared over the Thanksgiving weekend in the past. One presumes that the awful reviews and other choices kept audiences away.

On the other hand, helped by the official start of the holiday shopping season, Disney's A Christmas Carol received a nice 30% bump from last weekend, bringing in $16 million over the three-day weekend to bring its total to $105 million.

The martial arts action flick Ninja Assassin (Warner Bros.), starring Korean pop singer Rain, grossed $21 million in its first five days in 2,503 theaters, $13.1 million of that over the weekend, to take sixth place.

Sony's second animated comedy of the fall movie season, Planet 51, dropped to seventh place with $10.2 million, down 17% from its opening weekend, to boost its total to $28.4 million.

Eighth and ninth place were movies that have been doing solid business in limited release and hoped to bring in more audiences over the holiday. Lee Daniels' inspirational drama Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (Lionsgate) didn't add many theaters on Wednesday, but it did come out slightly ahead of Wes Anderson's stop-motion animation version of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox, which expanded into 2,033 theaters. Both movies grossed roughly $7 million over the three-day weekend. Precious has grossed $32.5 million to date and should roll out into more locations with awards nominations being announced in the coming weeks, while Anderson's movie has grossed just over $10 million all-inclusive.

Grant Heslov's political comedy The Men Who Stare at Goats (Overture Films) rounded out the Top 10 with $1.5 million and a $30 million gross to date.

The top 10 grossed $172 million over the three-day weekend up 13% from the holiday weekend last year when the holiday comedy Four Christmases
Opening in 111 theaters on Wednesday, John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road (Dimension Films) starring Viggo Mortensen performed strongly, taking in $2 million to claim 11th place, just ahead of Troy Duffy's The Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day, which added 169 theaters on Wednesday and added $1.2 million to its total take of $5.7 million.

Disney's first 2D animated movie in many years, The Princess and the Frog, opened in exclusive engagements in New York and L.A., where it grossed $712 thousand over the three-day weekend and $1.1 million since Wednesday. Its theater average of $356k per venue, boosted by higher ticket prices for the special engagement's enhanced experience, helped put the animated movie amongst the top 3 highest averages, amongst previous Disney movies such as The Lion King and Pocahontas.

Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.