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.
The third weekend in November was heralded by the coming of the seventh chapter in the popular fantasy franchise Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (Warner Bros.), which opened on Friday with over $61 million including Thursday midnights, a new franchise high, before tumbling on Saturday to end up with an estimated $125.1 million in its opening weekend. This makes it the sixth-highest opening weekend for a movie following The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 3, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Iron Man 2. The seventh chapter also brought in an astounding $205 million internationally where it opened in 54 other countries for a worldwide total of $330.1 million. Although Warner Bros. decided to forego releasing the film in 3D, “Deathly Hallows” brought in $12.4 million in 239 domestic IMAX locations, surpassing the company’s opening record set by Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland earlier this year, as well as another $16.6 million from 340 international IMAX theaters.
DreamWorks Animation’s Megamind, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill, dropped to second place while crossing the $100 million mark with $16.2 million in its third weekend, down 44% from last week. The animated comedy has grossed $109 million after three weeks and getting closer to making back its $130 million production budget.
The Denzel Washington-Chris Pine action-thriller Unstoppable took third place with $13.1 million, down 42% from its opening weekend, with a total gross of $42 million in ten days.
Todd Phillips’ R-rated road comedy Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, dropped 41% to fourth place with $9.2 million and $72.7 million after three weeks.
Paul Haggis’ crime-thriller The Next Three Days (Lionsgate), starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks, had the misfortune of opening against the Harry Potter powerhouse and with so many other strong films in theaters, it barely made a dent with just $6.8 million in 2,564 theaters. It averaged roughly $2,600 per site, which doesn’t bode well for its future even with Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up.
The comedy Morning Glory (Paramount) starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton, took sixth place with $5.2 million with just under $20 million total. It ended up pulling ahead of the sci-fi thriller Skyline (Rogue Pictures) in their respective second weekends, as the Brothers Strause’s low-budget film tanked this week, dropping an astounding 71% to bring in just $3.4 million in its second week and $17.6 million total.
Likewise, the Bruce Willis-led ensemble action-comedy RED (Summit) pulled ahead of Tyler Perry’s ensemble drama For Colored Girls (Lionsgate), the former grossing $2.5 million to the latter’s $2.4 million. Red has grossed $83.6 million after just six weeks, making it one of Bruce Willis’ highest-grossing film since Live Free or Die Hard three years ago. Perry’s first adaptation has grossed $34.5 million in three weeks, which puts it amongst Perry’s less successful films.
Doug Liman’s Fair Game (Summit), starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, made its entrance into the Top 10 with $1.5 million after expanding into 386 theaters on Friday. It has grossed $3.7 million so far.
The Top 10 grossed roughly $185 million, which is down 25% from last year when The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Sandra Bullock’s The Blind Side were able to dominate the box office and help it set a record with $247 million for the Top 10.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
