Through eight days of the Holiday Season (December 16-23), the top 10 films in North America each day have totaled $226 million, up 27% jump from last year ($178 million) and up 6% from the multi-year average since 2002 ($213 million).
The almost $33 million for the top 10 films yesterday was very typical for December 23, which has averaged $29.3 million when that date has fallen on a weekday since 2002. (December 23 has averaged $38.7 million when it has fallen on a weekend, on contrast.)
| Box Office Volume — Top 10 Films North America | |||||
| ($ millions) | Past 11 years — 2002-2012 | ||||
| # days | 2013 | 2012 | Average | Peak Year | |
| Dec 16-22 | 7 | 193 | 146 | 180 | 223 (2003) |
| Dec 16-23 | 8 | 226 | 178 | 213 | 247 (2003) |
| Dec 16-24 | 9 | 196 | 233 | 266 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-25 | 10 | 265 | 287 | 349 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-26 | 11 | 316 | 345 | 445 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-27 | 12 | 362 | 394 | 521 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-28 | 13 | 414 | 440 | 579 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-29 | 14 | 471 | 484 | 637 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-30 | 15 | 517 | 527 | 693 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-31 | 16 | 553 | 563 | 742 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 1 | 17 | 600 | 612 | 820 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 2 | 18 | 623 | 649 | 901 (2009) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 3 | 19 | 642 | 674 | 947 (2009) | |
Today will be a very quiet day: December 24 has averaged only $19.4 million for the top 10 films since 2002 ($18.2 million when Christmas Eve falls on a weekday and a not-very-different $20.9 million when it is on a weekend.) But the big days are coming. Christmas Day has averaged $54.9 million since 2002, while December 26 has averaged $57.1 million, generally the biggest day of the Holiday Season. Then, five of the next six days (between December 27 and January 1) average well over $40 million per day.
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