Weekend Box Office (December 28 - 30, 2007)

tycoon

THIS WEEKEND The final frame of 2007 saw moviegoers rush out and catch up on holdovers as last weekend's biggest hits remained atop the charts. The Disney adventure sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets held steady at number one for the second straight time grossing an estimated $35.6M. Dropping a reasonable 20%, the PG-rated actioner saw its ten-day total soar to $124M. Nicolas Cage's franchise pic averaged a terrific $9,299 from 3,832 playdates. Book of Secrets has already broken into the Top 20 chart of this year's blockbusters and stands a chance of reaching the Top 10. That would be fitting since five of the six biggest hits of 2007 were sequels.

Another PG-rated film catering to moviegoers of all ages followed in second. Fox's family comedy sensation Alvin and the Chipmunks saw its weekend gross climb up 7% from last weekend to an estimated $30M which boosted the cume to a stunning $142.4M in only 17 days. If estimates hold, Alvin will become the first film in a year and a half to gross $30M or more in its third weekend. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was the last smash to do it back in July 2006. Alvin already sits at number 13 among all blockbusters from 2007 and is Fox's second-biggest hit of the year after the $183.1M of The Simpsons Movie.

Will Smith's megahit I Am Legend collected an estimated $27.5M in its third weekend, off 18%, pushing its sensational total to $194.6M after 17 days. The Warner Bros. blockbuster is just a couple of days away from becoming the ninth blockbuster of 2007 to cross the $200M mark edging out 2005's eight to set a new industry record. National Treasure and Alvin could both still join the club by the end of their runs. Together the three end-of-year behemoths have grossed a combined $461M and counting giving the year an explosive finish.

Leading all films for mature adults was Charlie Wilson's War with an estimated $11.8M which was up a healthy 22% from last weekend's opening frame. With Christmas over and grown-ups having more available time, the Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts pic upped its cume to a decent $34.5M which was almost identical to the $35.1M that the studio saw exactly a year ago from its CIA drama The Good Shepherd in its first ten days which also included the yuletide holiday week. That political saga appealed to much the same audience and went on to gross $59.9M domestically. War cost $75M to produce.

Indie darling Juno continued to overwhelm at the box office leaping up into the number five slot with an estimated $10.3M despite playing in only 998 theaters. Every film above it on the charts is in at least 2,500 sites. The teen pregnancy tale averaged a still-superb $10,321 in its fourth frame and pushed the sum up to a remarkable $25.7M. Juno is already outperforming Fox Searchlight's dysfunctional family comedy hit from last year Little Miss Sunshine which in its fourth frame grossed $5.6M from its expansion into 691 locations for a $8,120 average and $12.7M total. With buzz snowballing, kudos attention becoming more focused, and a long awards season still ahead of it, Juno looks to challenge Sunshine and 2004's Sideways to become the distributor's highest-grossing film ever. Those Oscar-winning comedies banked $59.9M and $71.5M, respectively.

Opening in sixth place was the sci-fi action sequel Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem with an estimated $10.1M over the weekend and $26.9M over the six-day debut period since its Christmas Day launch on Tuesday. Attacking 2,611 sites, the R-rated pic averaged a mild $3,849 and skewed male to nobody's surprise. The six-day bow still fell short of the $38.3M three-day opening of 2004's Alien vs. Predator which carried a PG-13 rating and launched in the late summer period.

Sony was close behind in seventh with the opening of its fantasy adventure tale The Water Horse which grossed an estimated $9.2M over the weekend and $16.8M over six days. Over the three-day period, the PG-rated tale averaged a lukewarm $3,319 per site in 2,772 locations. The Loch Ness Monster saga played mostly to kids and families.

Enjoying a sturdy bump from last weekend was the romance P.S. I Love You which took in an estimated $9.1M climbing 40% from it unimpressive bow last weekend. Warner Bros. has banked $23.4M in ten days and is finally reaching its core audience of adult women now that holiday distractions have gone by.

The Johnny Depp musical Sweeney Todd dropped 14% to an estimated $8M in its second weekend. The $50M Paramount release has taken in $26.7M in ten days. Disney's less gory music-filled offering Enchanted rounded out the top ten with an estimated $6.5M, up a charming 54%, to a total of $110.7M.

Opening just outside the top ten with a surprisingly soft bow was Denzel Washington's directorial and starring effort The Great Debaters with an estimated $6.3M from 1,171 sites for a decent $5,383 average. Produced by Oprah Winfrey and co-starring Forest Whitaker, the PG-13 film has collected an unimpressive $13.5M in the six days since its Christmas Day bow which is below what Washington usually sees with his films. The Oprah factor was also expected to provide more of a commercial boost.

Delivering the highest opening weekend average of the year, Paramount Vantage's oil baron saga There Will Be Blood exploded in just two theaters grossing an estimated $186,000 for an eye-popping $92,763 average. Co-produced by Miramax, the R-rated film is anchored by Daniel Day-Lewis who in recent weeks has earned awards and nominations from virtually every kudos organization in the Best Actor category. He is now considered one of the frontrunners for the Oscar. Reviews have been glowing for Blood which will expand on Friday to 50 theaters and gradually roll out in January.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $158.1M which was up a healthy 18% from last year when Night at the Museum stayed at number one with $36.8M over three days; and up a stunning 41% from 2005 when The Chronicles of Narnia reclaimed the top spot with $25.7M.




Compared to projections, Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem bowed below my $13M prediction, The Water Horse opened very close to my $8M forecast, and The Great Debaters debuted below my $9M projection.