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December 6, 2011
 

FULL WEEK BOX OFFICE ACTUALS and YEAR TO DATE November 28-December 4

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Written by: Mitch Metcalf
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>The week after Thanksgiving is always a let down in movie attendance, and 2011 was even softer than the past few years.  Another week or so of limited business and then the box office will explode as Christmas turns to New Year’s.  Last year, for example, the week of December 6-12 grossed $105 million, followed by $165 million the week of December 13-19, $250 million the week of December 20-26, and $342 million the week of December 27-January 2.  This year’s pattern will be very similar, although with each week 4-6% below the comparable level in 2010.      


The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume

All films in wide release playing between November 28 and December 4 grossed $104 million, down 6% from the same week in 2010 and down 8% from the average comparable week the past four years.  Year to date, all films are now down 3.7% from the same period last year.    

All Films November 28-December 4
(millions)           4yr              vs      vs
             2010    Avg     2011    2010    Avg

Week #48     $111    $113    $104    – 6%
    – 8%

Year to Date $9391   $8906   $9044   -3.7%   +1.6%



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 $268 million (96 percentile)
Puss in Boots $144 million (87 percentile)
The Muppets $85 million (73 percentile)
Immortals $82 million (72 percentile) 

Tower Heist $79 million (71 percentile) 
Jack and Jill $71 million (67 percentile)

Happy Feet Two $67 million (66 percentile)

Hugo $48 million (54 percentile)

Arthur Christmas $47 million (54 percentile)

J. Edgar $36 million (43 percentile)
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas $35 million (42 percentile)

The Descendants $33 million (40 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 slightly optimistic for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 ($400,000 higher than the actual weekend number reported today), while the projections for The Muppets and other holdover movies were fairly close to the actual numbers.    

      Weekend of                 Sunday    Monday   Showbuzz
      Nov 28-Dec 4               Studio    Weekend  Domestic
      (millions)                Estimate   Actual    Total

Twilight Breaking Dawn 1  (Sum)   $16.9    $16.5     $268-
The Muppets               (Dis)   $11.2    $11.1     $ 85-
Hugo                      (Par)   $ 7.6    $ 7.6     $ 48
Arthur Christmas         (Sony)   $ 7.3    $ 7.4     $ 47
Happy Feet Two             (WB)   $ 6.0    $ 5.9     $ 67-
Jack and Jill            (Sony)   $ 5.5    $ 5.4     $ 71
The Descendants           (Fox)   $ 5.2    $ 4.8     $ 33
Immortals                 (Rel)   $ 4.4    $ 4.5     $ 82
Tower Heist               (Uni)   $ 4.1    $ 3.9     $ 79
Puss in Boots          (Par/DW)   $ 3.1    $ 3.0     $144
J. Edgar                   (WB)   $ 2.4    $ 2.3     $ 36


International box office results can be found here.

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About the Author

Mitch Metcalf
MITCH METCALF has been tracking every US film release of over 500 screens (over 2300 movies and counting) since the storied weekend of May 20, 1994, when Maverick and Beverly Hills Cop 3 inspired countless aficionados to devote their lives to the art of cinema. Prior to that, he studied Politics and Economics at Princeton in order to prepare for his dream of working in television. He has been Head of West Coast Research at ABC, then moved to NBC in 2000 and became Head of Scheduling for 11 years.