Ten days into the three-week holiday movie season, 2012 is now 9% behind the average 10-day total over the last several years ($264 million this year for the first ten days versus $290 million on average 2004-2011). However, 2012 remains 16% behind the last time Christmas fell on a Tuesday (2007 — $316 million the first ten days). After a very soft weekend before Christmas (December 21-23) thanks to relative stinkers like Jack Reacher, This Is 40, The Guilt Trip and a re-release of Monsters, Inc., Christmas Day brought the 2012 holiday season roaring back with $68 million for the top 10 films, the best December 25 total since $82.6 million in 2009 and beating the next biggest Christmas Day total ($66.8 million in 2008).
Turns out there was an audience for Les Miserables (#1 on December 25 with $18.1 million) and Django Unchained (#2 with $15.0 million). The 12th day of The Hobbit was a robust #3 for the day with $11.3 million. Parental Guidance pulled into fourth place, but with a $6.3 million opening day it will not play a role in turning around the holiday season. Look for the domestic final gross estimates for each film in the next few days.
| Holiday Season — First Ten Days | |||
| Top 10 Films by Day — $ millions | |||
| 2012 | 2007 | 2004-2011 average | |
| Dec 16 | 31.5 | 37.8 | 22.1 |
| Dec 17 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 27.2 |
| Dec 18 | 13.2 | 11.9 | 28.0 |
| Dec 19 | 11.9 | 11.9 | 23.3 |
| Dec 20 | 12.8 | 13.1 | 21.0 |
| Dec 21 | 27.8 | 50.1 | 25.4 |
| Dec 22 | 37.3 | 53.3 | 30.1 |
| Dec 23 | 32.0 | 44.9 | 35.6 |
| Dec 24 | 17.8 | 22.6 | 20.5 |
| Dec 25 | 68.1 | 57.4 | 56.6 |
| Dec 16-25 | 264 | 316 | 290 |
Looking back over the past decade, Christmas Day 2012 is second only to 2009, when the top 10 added up to $82.6 million. Sherlock Holmes finished at #1 for the day with $24.6 million, sending Avatar to a rare second place with $23.1 million. Avatar‘s move out of first place was temporary — the next day on December 26, Avatar returned to #1, where it stayed for another 40 of the next 41 days. Christmas Day 2008 ($66.8 million for the top 10 films) indeed looked more like this year: Marley & Me at #1 with $14.4 million, Curious Case of Benjamin Button #2 with $11.9 million, Bedtime Stories #3 with $10.6 million and Valkyrie #4 with $8.5 million.
| Christmas Day: Top 10 Films ($ millions) | |||||||
| Dec 25 on Weekdays | Dec 25 on Weekends | ||||||
| Top10 | #1 film | Top10 | #1 film | ||||
| 2012 | Tue | 68.1 | Les Miserables | 2011 | Sun | 54.5 | Mission Impossible 4 |
| 2008 | Thu | 66.8 | Marley & Me | 2010 | Sat | 52.5 | Little Fockers |
| 2007 | Tue | 57.4 | National Treasure | 2009 | Fri | 82.6 | Sherlock Holmes |
| 2006 | Mon | 49.4 | Night at the Museum | 2005 | Sun | 41.4 | King Kong |
| 2003 | Thu | 46.3 | Return of the King | 2004 | Sat | 47.8 | Meet the Fockers |
On average, box office gross for the top 10 films grows slightly from December 25 to December 26. However, in 2007 (when Christmas last fell on a Tuesday) the top 10 box office total declined from $57.4 million on Christmas to $50.4 million on Wednesday, December 26. (December 26 is a holiday for many more people if the day extends Christmas into a weekend, but that is definitely not the case in this year’s calendar layout.) Today (December 26) will probably drop to about $58 million, still very close to the multi-year average for the day.
| Holiday Season: Top 10 Films by Day | |||||
| $ millions — Average 2004-2011 | |||||
| Dec 16 | 22.1 | Dec 23 | 35.6 | Dec 30 | 45.4 |
| Dec 17 | 27.2 | Dec 24 | 20.5 | Dec 31 | 37.9 |
| Dec 18 | 28.0 | Dec 25 | 56.6 | Jan 1 | 50.1 |
| Dec 19 | 23.3 | Dec 26 | 59.3 | Jan 2 | 39.7 |
| Dec 20 | 21.0 | Dec 27 | 48.5 | Jan 3 | 22.9 |
| Dec 21 | 25.4 | Dec 28 | 44.2 | Jan 4 | 17.3 |
| Dec 22 | 30.1 | Dec 29 | 43.9 | Jan 5 | 17.9 |
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