>The much anticipated surge at the box office did not materialize for the slew of sequels releases. Total volume for the past week was down 17% from last year, and the second Sherlock Holmes and third Alvin and the Chipmunks are lagging behind their predecessors.
The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume
All films in wide release playing between December 12 and December 18 grossed $137 million, down 17% from the same week in 2010 and down 15% from the average comparable week the past four years. Year to date, all films are now down 4.0% from the same period last year. (Last week the year to year comparison was -3.8%).
All Films December 12-18
(millions) 4yr vs vs
2010 Avg 2011 2010 Avg
Week #50 $165 $161 $137 -17% -15%
Year to Date $9661 $9192 $9270
-4.0% +0.8%
Updated Estimates of Final Grosses
The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Grosses (the estimated North American gross when the film ends its run) are summarized below for films released the last six weeks. Pay attention to the final domestic grosses, which are much more important than individual weekend grosses and especially weekend rankings.
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 $271 million (96 percentile)
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol $180 million (93 percentile)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows $153 million (89 percentile)
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked $139 million (87 percentile)
Immortals $83 million (73 percentile)
The Muppets $81 million (72 percentile) Jack and Jill $72 million (68 percentile) Happy Feet Two $63 million (64 percentile) Young Adult $54 million (58 percentile)
Hugo $53 million (57 percentile)
Arthur Christmas $50 million (56 percentile)
J. Edgar $36 million (43 percentile)
The Descendants $40 million (47 percentile)
New Year’s Eve $38 million (46 percentile)
The Sitter $26 million (29 percentile)
Weekend Actuals vs Sunday’s Studio Projections
The weekend Studio Projections (Friday and Saturday actual numbers with estimates for Sunday’s box office) were somewhat optimistic for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows ($600,000 higher than the actual weekend number reported today) and The Sitter ($300,000 higher than the actual). The studio estimates for the holdover films were fairly accurate, however.
Weekend of Sunday Monday Showbuzz
December 16-18 Studio Weekend Domestic
(millions) Estimate Actual Total
Sherlock Holmes 2 (WB) $40.2 $39.6 $153
Alvin and Chipmunks 3 (Fox) $23.5 $23.2 $139
Mission: Impossible 4 (Par) $13.0 $12.8 $180
New Year’s Eve (WB/NL) $ 7.4 $ 7.3 $ 38
The Sitter (Fox) $ 4.4 $ 4.6 $ 26
Twilight Breaking Dawn 1 (Sum) $ 4.3 $ 4.2 $271
The Muppets (Dis) $ 3.4 $ 3.5 $ 81
Arthur Christmas (Sony) $ 3.6 $ 3.6 $ 50
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