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UPDATE: More detailed numbers are proving even better for MI4, which reportedly made $6.6M on Wednesday. The action sequel is close to a $2K average at 3400 theatres, and looks like the hit of the season with $25M already in the bank.
Things are less promising for THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, which appears to have made $3.6M on Wednesday. That’s about a $1250 average at 2900 theatres, considerably lower than the original estimates.
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN is at the low end of its earlier estimate with $2.3M in 3100 theatres, an unthrilling $750 average.
Holdovers SHERLOCK HOLMES and CHIPWRECKED are around where their early estimates had them.
The Hollywood Reporter has preliminary estimates for Wednesday’s boxoffice take, and the numbers seem to be a bit down from the Wednesday before Christmas weekend in 2010. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL (Paramount) appears to have the early lead, with $5-6M for the day. MI4 expanded from 425 to around 3400 theatres on Wednesday, and the reported take would triple Tuesday’s gross or more (although per-theatre would go down from around $4K to $1500-1750). This compares with 2010’s opening of Little Fockers on the parallel Wednesday last year, which had an opening day gross of $7.1M in 3500 theatres, for a $2K average.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Sony), which is at about 2900 theatres (and has a hard R-rating as well as a running time 25 minutes longer than MI4‘s) is estimated to have gotten off to a $4.5-5.5M start, a strong $1500-1900 theatre average. Last year, the other major Wednesday opening was the much more family-oriented True Grit, which made a very similar $5.5M at 3000 theatres for a $1800 average. (Note: opening days only mean so much, as indicated by the fact that when all the money was counted last year, True Grit ended up with $23M in the bank more than Little Fockers.)
The news is less good for the season’s first Steven Spielberg movie, THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (Paramount), which appears to be headed for $2.5-3M at 3100 theatres, for a $800-1000 average–and that includes 3D ticket prices.
None of the new arrivals appears to have hurt last weekend’s holdovers, as SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (Warners) and ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED (20th) are headed for $4.5-5.5M and $3.5-4M respectively, in line with their Tuesday results.
The year’s final wide release arrivals are WE BOUGHT A ZOO (20th) on Friday, and then WAR HORSE (DreamWorks/Disney) and THE DEADLIEST HOUR (Summit) on Sunday.
Stay with SHOWBUZZDAILY all holiday season for updated boxoffice and analysis!
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