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M: Impossible 4 Wins Holiday Race

Ghost Protocol takes down Christmas Victory.

By Jarrod Sarafin     December 26, 2011


Warner Bros. Pictures' Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows falls to 2nd at the box office
© Warner Bros./Bob Trate

 

Before starting into the box office numbers, let’s begin this latest report by saying that we hope each and every one of you had a great holiday weekend. As we prepare to journey into yet another year at Mania, it should be pointed out that it’s you, our readers, which make this a special place to work for and visit every day. Thank you! While families across the nation were unwrapping packages and sharing some love, the suits over at Hollywood were wishing for a present of a different kind. Profits. Unfortunately for those executives, the numbers are looking to be up 3 percent over the same holiday weekend last year but it seems clear that they will still experience a loss in yearly revenue. At the moment, one studio chief believes the domestic take will come in at around $10.1 billion, a 3 percent dip from what 2010 pulled in at the ticket booth.
We had three new wide releases over the weekend and none of them could outpace the returns of last weekend’s top 3, leaving The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Adventures of Tintin to debut in 4th and 5th, respectively. In another sign of the dreary box office landscape, there was only film that cross the $20+ plus range over the weekend. In comparison, we had two last year with the premieres of Little Fockers ($30.8 mil) and True Grit ($24.8 mil). But that’s enough of the negative annual aspects. Let’s get to the race itself.
Taking down the win for this weekend was the expansion of Paramount Picture’s Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol. After making its premiere into IMAX theaters across the nation last week, the latest Ethan Hunt adventure starring Tom Cruise was launched into 3,023 more theaters during the holiday and found the top spot as a result. The action-thriller hauled in $26.5 million on 3,448 theaters, averaging only $7,696 per venue. The latest results has increased the domestic cume to $58.9 million while it scored up a respectable $102.7 million from oversea territories. Produced on a budget of $145 million, the fourth M:I mission has a global tally of $161.6 million.
Landing in the 2nd place spot is Warner Bros. Pictures’ sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. After its victorious win last weekend---with a debut of $39.6 million---the follow-up adventure dropped 55 percent at the box office by taking in only $17.8 million in receipts. Averaging $4,807 per venue across the country, the sophomore performance has pushed the studio’s domestic gross to $76.5 million after 10 days of release. With another $22.3 million from 25 foreign markets at the foreign box office, the studio’s global tab stands at $122.7 million.
Fox’s threequel edition of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked dropped a place to the 3rd spot by earning another $13.3 million. Representing only a 42 percent drop from the previous weekend results, the latest tale from the CG characters has earned $50.2 million after two frames at the box office.  The 3D family adventure also found another $20.1 mil from 52 international markets, increasing the global score to $92.4 million. The budget is set at $75 million.
And it’s time for the new releases. Both are being planned as trilogies led by well-respected directors. Whether those plans will remain in place by their respective studios remains to be seen.
Despite a pretty heavy marketing campaign, Sony Pictures found David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opening up its theatrical run in 4th place with a holiday weekend sum of $13.0 million. Produced on a budget of $90 million, the film earned only $21.4 million over the first five days of domestic release and another $1.6 million from five Scandavian countries.
Paramount’s first installment in their The Adventures of Tintin trilogy---led by Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg---debuted in 5th place over the Christmas holiday. Both Paramount and Sony have acknowledged that the Tintin character isn’t as well known in the states as it is across the globe and the box office numbers will reflect that point. The first adventure grabbed only $9.1 million over the weekend---$17.1 million over the 5-day launch---while its foreign numbers reflect an entirely different fandom. It has $239.1 million in foreign sales since opening up in theaters worldwide last month. The domestic debut has pushed that worldwide cume to $256.2 million.
Check out the rest of the top 10 down below.
 
 

Rank
Movie
Weekend
Theaters
Average
Total
Budget
1
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
$26.5 mil
3,448
$7,696
$58.9 mil
$145
2
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
$17.8 mil
3,703
$4,807
$76.5 mil
----
3
Alvin and the Chipmunks 3
$13.3 mil
3,734
$3,569
$50.2 mil
$75
4
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
$13.0 mil
2,914
$4,461
$21.4 mil
$90
5
The Adventures of Tintin
$9.1 mil
3,087
$2,956
$17.1 mil
----
6
We Bought a Zoo
$7.8 mil
3,117
$2,502
$7.8 mil
----
7
New Year’s Eve
$3.0 mil
2,225
$1,351
$32.3 mil
$56
8
Arthur Christmas
$2.7 mil
1,804
$1,497
$44.2 mil
----
9
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 1
$2.1 mil
1,603
$1,310
$270.9 mil
$110
10
Hugo
$2.0 mil
1,236
$1,638
$43.6 mil
$150

 
As with most New Year’s weekends of our past, there will be no new wide releases next weekend. And we would like to jump the gun and wish each and everyone of you Maniacs a safe and great New Year’s celebration!
 
Friday, December 30, 2011 Releases:
Limited
Angels Crest
The Iron Lady
Pariah
A Separation
 

MOVIES REVIEWS

COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

Showing items 1 - 10 of 13
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wessmith1966 12/26/2011 8:58:17 AM

The whole family liked We Bought A Zoo. It's a really good family movie and that's nice this time of year. Nothing spectacular, but solid performances all around. The kids like watching all of the animal shows on Discovery so any movie with animals is going to score points with them. And Scarlett..she really is a "movie star" in the classic 50's sense. You can't take your eyes off her when she's on screen. She isn't the most beautiful or the most talented; she's this generation's Marilyn. She's magnetic.

I liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I haven't read the books or seen the original film so I have no idea how it stacks up to either one, but if you like a good thriller, you should like this movie. Mara was scary good, and just plain scary, in this film.

Going to see MI4 today. Looking forward to a solid action film...hope the movie delivers.

I honestly never heard of Tintin before the movie came out. The kids weren't interested so we'll probably skip it.

Whiskeymovie 12/26/2011 10:31:19 AM

MI 4 was awesome,,,,going to see Dragon Tattoo tonight,,,,,Might see Sherlock tomorrow....TinTin is a wait until video for me.....same with Zoo

karas1 12/26/2011 2:11:44 PM

Saw Sherlock Holmes last week but there was no Mania box office report (that I could find).  Saw M:I 4 on Saturday.  Some of the action was so unbelievable that it stretched my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point.  Didn't actually break it though but I saw it with some friends for whom it did.

Had a good Christmas (and birthday).  Hope you guys had a good holiday.

InnerSanctum 12/26/2011 3:58:50 PM

 Who are these people that take their kids to Alvin 3 and not Hugo or Tintin?  For shame.  I'd pick We Bought a Zoo before I sat through even a minute of one of those stupid chipmunk moives.  I tell you...Lee is going to burn for being a part of them.  

RedHood2010 12/26/2011 5:35:47 PM

MI:4 was a good movie.  Yes some of the sequences were way over the top, but we enjoyed that.  Hight recommend seeing it.  Some good humor too.

Miner49er 12/26/2011 8:26:36 PM

Saw Sherlock - was great! Saw MI4 on IMAX - was also great! Still want to see Hugo, Tintin, and War Horse.

ztigr 12/26/2011 8:51:16 PM

 There appears to be a danger that we may see A and the C 4?  Ugh  MI4 on the other hand is about the only one that seems to want to drag me out of the house, though War Horse looks interesting...

alienstatue 12/26/2011 9:20:02 PM

I hope Girl with the Dragon Tattoo makes it's money back and then some. Would love to see Fincher's direction on the whole trilogy.

Minor MI4 SPOILER Alert...

The only part in Mi4 that I couldn't get passed was when Renner jumped into the "big server" onto the fan with the magnetic suit. I mean, really? They made it this big huge comic relief moment, but seriously, if he was that worried, he just needed to bring a rope and lower himself down, until he started floating from the magnetic machine. Why the need to jump??? Maybe I missed something.

halfbloodprincess 12/26/2011 10:11:13 PM

 I am with you alienstatue. I really hope they can do the whole trilogy. I saw GWTDT and I really liked it. I would even say I liked it more then the Swedish version. Rooney Mara did just as good a job as Noomi Rapace.

vitieddie 12/26/2011 10:48:26 PM

Posted about this on the review page - MI4 was great but the third act was a bit flat. The action was not over the top for me (e.g. the tower sequence was exciting and filled with tense moments) .... 4/5

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