The 2015 holiday box office continues its blistering pace.
For the 12 days December 16-27, top 10 films in North America have totaled $783 million, +78% ahead of the same period last year, +92% above the average since 2002, and now +50% ahead of the record for this period (2009, the year of Avatar). This is when Avatar really kicked into high gear, so the difference between the 2015 and 2009 holiday periods should continue to narrow somewhat, but the 2015 holiday period should remain comfortably ahead of the 2009 holiday period in early January.
| Box Office Volume — Top 10 Films North America | |||||||
| ($ millions) | Past 13 years — 2002-2014 | ||||||
| # days | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | Average | Peak Year | Low Year | |
| Dec 16-22 | 7 | 416* | 196 | 193 | 179 | 223 (’03) | 112 (’08) |
| Dec 16-23 | 8 | 468* | 222 | 226 | 214 | 247 (’03) | 128 (’08) |
| Dec 16-24 | 9 | 505* | 238 | 248 | 234 | 266 (’09) | 138 (’08) |
| Dec 16-25 | 10 | 600* | 309 | 315 | 295 | 349 (’09) | 205 (’08) |
| Dec 16-26 | 11 | 701* | 376 | 373 | 355 | 445 (’09) | 268 (’08) |
| Dec 16-27 | 12 | 783* | 440 | 432 | 407 | 521 (’09) | 329 (’08) |
| Dec 16-28 | 13 | 487 | 494 | 455 | 579 (’09) | 375 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-29 | 14 | 522 | 541 | 501 | 637 (’09) | 408 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-30 | 15 | 560 | 580 | 546 | 693 (’09) | 442 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-31 | 16 | 593 | 616 | 584 | 742 (’09) | 475 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 1 | 17 | 640 | 664 | 633 | 820 (’09) | 525 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 2 | 18 | 691 | 690 | 671 | 901 (’09) | 558 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 3 | 19 | 738 | 733 | 699 | 947 (’09) | 571 (’04) | |
Note: * represents a new record high
Saturday December 26, 2015 ended up with $100.7 million for the top 10 films, well above the $63.8 million average when December 26 falls on a weekend. Sunday December 27, 2015 is estimated to total $82.0 million for the top 10 films, also above the $60.9 million average when December 27 falls on a weekend.
December 28 has averaged $42.3 million on weekdays but $51.4 million on weekends. Similarly, December 29 has averaged $39.2 million on weekdays and $50.8 million on weekend. Although December 28 and 29 fall on weekdays this year, Monday and Tuesday will most likely perform more like weekend days and total around $50 million each day for the top 10 films.
Come back Tuesday for a look at the actual results through December 28.
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