The top 10 films December 26, 2014 totaled $63.3 million,right at the average $63.1 million for the days since 2002 when December 26 landed on a Friday-Sunday. The last time December 26 fell on a Friday (2008), the day’s top 10 films added up to a similar $63.5 million. The 11 days December 16-26 total $372 million this year, now +7.3% ahead of the average for this period the last 12 years and now basically even (-0.3%) with last year’s pace.
Box Office Volume — Top 10 Films North America | ||||||
($ 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 | 238 | 248 | 234 | 266 (’09) | 138 (’08) |
Dec 16-25 | 10 | 309 | 315 | 290 | 349 (’09) | 205 (’08) |
Dec 16-26 | 11 | 372 | 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 27 has averaged $60.4 million when it has fallen on a Friday-Sunday, as it does this year (while the day has averaged $42.5 million when it has fallen on a Monday-Thursday). The last time the day after Christmas was on a Saturday (2008), the day totaled $60.5 million for the top 10 films. So far so good for the important holiday season.
Come back tomorrow as we look at how December 27 actually turned out.