Since December 16, the top 10 films at the North American box office have totaled $222 million, now slightly below the 2013 pace for December 16-23 (-1.7%) but still slightly above the average (+3.6%) for this eight-day period over the last 12 years. The top 10 films added up to $25.6 million on Tuesday December 23, 2014, a fairly weak number: below the $29.8 million average for December 23 when that date has fallen on a Monday-Thursday. The only December 23 totals below 2014 were in 2003 ($24.4 million) and especially 2008 ($15.6 million), also years when December 23 fell on a Tuesday.
| Box Office Volume — Top 10 Films North America | ||||||
| ($ millions) | Past 12 years — 2002-2013 | |||||
| # days | 2014 | 2013 | Average | Peak Year | Low Year | |
| Dec 16-22 | 7 | 196 | 193 | 181 | 223 (’03) | 112 (’08) |
| Dec 16-23 | 8 | 222 | 226 | 214 | 247 (’03) | 128 (’08) |
| Dec 16-24 | 9 | 248 | 234 | 266 (’09) | 138 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-25 | 10 | 315 | 290 | 349 (’09) | 205 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-26 | 11 | 373 | 347 | 445 (’09) | 268 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-27 | 12 | 432 | 397 | 521 (’09) | 329 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-28 | 13 | 494 | 444 | 579 (’09) | 375 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-29 | 14 | 541 | 488 | 637 (’09) | 408 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-30 | 15 | 580 | 531 | 693 (’09) | 442 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-31 | 16 | 616 | 568 | 742 (’09) | 475 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 1 | 17 | 664 | 616 | 820 (’09) | 525 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 2 | 18 | 690 | 652 | 901 (’09) | 558 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 3 | 19 | 733 | 679 | 947 (’09) | 571 (’04) | |
December 24 has averaged $18.8 million when it has fallen on weekday, and the recent low for December 24 came in 2008 ($10.0 million), also a Wednesday. The other fairly recent Wednesday December 24 came in 2003, when the top 10 films added up to $14.7 million. Look for around $15 or $16 million for the top 10 films on Christmas Eve this year.
Come back tomorrow as we look at how Christmas Eve actually turned out, and we will preview the Big Day at the box office: Christmas Day.
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