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Box Office Results 12/27/09 | Pajiba - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

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Every Creature Was Stirring, To Get Out of the House

The Weekend Box-Office Round-Up / William Goss

Box Office Round-Ups | December 28, 2009 | Comments (28)

The greatest detective around and the most irritating pop stars ever may have had more screens to themselves this holiday weekend than the “game-changer” could claim, but with the benefit of bloated 3-D/IMAX ticket prices, James Cameron’s Avatar still came out on top with $75 million. Within ten days, it’s already raked in $200 million domestic and twice that worldwide, meaning it might make its massive budget back yet.

Sherlock Holmes was no slouch itself, taking second place with $65.4 million and claiming the title of biggest Christmas opening from former champ Meet the Fockers, and with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel taking in $50 million over the weekend and $77 million over the past five days, it comes as no surprise that 2009 is on track to have an even bigger box office than last year.

It’s Complicated’s $22 million in fourth place is in line with most of Meryl Streep’s other openings (Julie & Julia: $20 million opening, $94 million total / Mamma Mia!: $27 million opening, $144 million total / The Devil Wears Prada: $27 million opening, $125 million total). Up in the Air added over 1,700 screens and earned over $11.75 million more in fifth place, with The Blind Side right behind it with $11.73 million in sixth place.

The Princess and the Frog did fall to seventh place from second in the wake of the Chipmunks with $8.7 million; Did You Hear About the Morgans? slipped down to ninth in the wake of the Streep with $5 million. In between at eighth place was Nine, which added 1,400+ screens but only took in $5.5 million. (In comparison, director Rob Marshall’s Chicago took in $8.2 million on a mere 616 screens when it went wide.)

Rounding out the top ten was a similar sure-thing-until-people-saw-it, Invictus, with $4.4 million over the weekend and $23 million to date, which puts it around Blood Work territory for director Clint Eastwood. I’m telling you, if he’d just sprung for filming the rugby matches in 3-D …

(Due to the holiday, reviews for the Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel, It’s Complicated, Nine and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus have been delayed, but will be posted early this week.)

(Oh, and since nothing new is opening next week, there won’t be a new Box Office Round-Up with which to open the New Year. See ya on the 10th!)


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Comments

Glad to see Avatar and Sherlock Holmes doing well. Disgusted that Alvin and the Chipmunks is doing better than The Princess and the Frog. Overall not too bad. Some good films in there.

Posted by: barf at December 27, 2009 5:00 PM

I don't see any game changer here. Avatar has no legs, it will JUST barely make back its budget.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at December 27, 2009 5:03 PM

It dropped an unheard-of 2.6% between this weekend and last. I think it'll have some legs.

Posted by: William Goss at December 27, 2009 5:06 PM

Also: I'm making fun of its reputation as a game-changer, not advocating it.

Posted by: William Goss at December 27, 2009 5:06 PM

"Due to the holiday, reviews for the Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel, It’s Complicated, Nine and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus have been delayed, but will be posted early this week.)"


Translation: We are all drunk and lack the discipline and professional commitment necessary to raise this site above 7th tier.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at December 27, 2009 5:07 PM

Jesopus fuck, BSlim, do they pay you to troll Pajiba?

Posted by: Jerce at December 27, 2009 5:42 PM

Not nearly enough I assure you.


Posted by: BarbadoSlim at December 27, 2009 6:02 PM

Translation: We are all drunk and lack the discipline and professional commitment necessary to raise this site above 7th tier.

Which is why this is the only site I visit.

Posted by: Three-nineteen at December 27, 2009 6:24 PM

Three-nineteen, right on. I look forward to reading this site for the simple reason that the reviewers are indeed bitchy people who will review things and get back to us when the hangovers die down.

By the bye, we do need some recommendations for good hangover movies to get us through New Year's, hint hint.

Posted by: The Wanderer at December 27, 2009 7:03 PM

I am SO happy about Meryl Streep's status as the world's biggest female movie star. I just think that is so fucking great. Truly. An over-60 woman is arguably the biggest female box office star -- how fucking cool is that?

Posted by: Maryscott O'Connor at December 27, 2009 7:49 PM

I don't see any game changer here. Avatar has no legs, it will JUST barely make back its budget.

Can you at least get your trolling straight, you twat. Avatar has already made 615 million, assuming Cameron maxed out on everything, the total budget would be between 400 and 500 million, including marketing, so under any circumstances, Avatar is legally a blockbuster.

Posted by: George at December 27, 2009 8:10 PM

Maryscott, I'm in the middle of Julie & Julia at the moment. The script is meh, but Streep just wins right over the top of it. She can do anything.

Posted by: sansho1 at December 27, 2009 9:40 PM

We all know (well, those of us who follow awards season) that plenty of tiny indepenent and foreign films that distributors want considered for awards but don't want to spend the money on an actual campaign for will be opening December 31 in NY/LA/Other Large Cities. Sure, they won't play into the Top 10 (or 20, or 50) box office results, but they do exist.

Nine flopped? There goes the Oscar campaign for everything but cinematography, make-up, and original song "Cinema Italiano." It was nice while it lasted. The musical went down again. When will Hollywood learn to pick filmable musicals for movies and not metatheatrical meditations that require a stagey feel to work? When, damn you? When? Make that 3-D Evil Dead: The Musical film you kicked about, or Toxic Avenger: The Musical, or any of the Night of the Living Dead: The Musical's (well, not the one I saw with the George Bush assassination by the heavy artillery of a buxom bikini babe; a little dated unless he's bludgeoned with shoes after being mistaken as a zombie) and see the profits roll in.

Or, go with me here: write a screenplay for an original film musical. They still happen nowadays, just rarely in the studio system. Jukebox doesn't count, fuckers. Neither does animation. America loves singing beauties in swimsuits: it's part of the American Cinema Tradition. You can't get away with the black servant teaching the little white girl to tap away her blues (another American musical mainstay), but you can slam some better looking dancers into bikinis and dump'em in a pool to music; it's the American way.

Posted by: Robert at December 27, 2009 9:43 PM

Robert, you just described "From Justin To Kelly". Soooo, I'll take all the damn remakes they got instead of that crap. Although Jersey Shore-The Musical would rake it in. Enough to pay for tanner, hair gel and penecillin for all.

Posted by: Mrcreosote at December 27, 2009 10:55 PM

Penecillin, sure, but only the generic stuff.

Though, asprin makers will love it, should boost sales for the headaches we get after headdesk (or headbadger).

Posted by: Vryce at December 28, 2009 12:10 AM

These numbers only prove one thing: movies are smart for being open on Christmas Day, as Americans can't stand to be around their families for just one day and need an avenue of escape.

Posted by: Fredo at December 28, 2009 12:25 AM

They need to put out more horror movies on Valentine's Day so I can have something to do.

Like Christmas...I want to go see Avatar again. I've already said I have a giant crush on Neytiri...

Am I rambling? I feel like I'm rambling.

Posted by: DeistBrawler at December 28, 2009 1:11 AM

Hi all, happy holidays! Are you looking for NSA fun or serious relationship with REAL

cougars. Or maybe find a sugarmomma who can pay all your needs?
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Posted by: Rose Simpson at December 28, 2009 6:33 AM

Well, I know I'M going to cougerlure.com. It sounds awesome!

*sigh*

Posted by: superasente at December 28, 2009 8:22 AM

Mrcreosote, you obviously aren't familiar with my much-documented love of J2K at Pajiba. There is no shame in appreciating that misunderstood masterpiece. If for nothing else then watching Anika Noni Rose's darkest moment as the black best friend before her triumphant rise to Tony-winning stardom, Dreamgirls scene-stealery at the Oscar telecast, and beating out Tyra Banks and Beyonce to be the first black Disney princess. That and the hovercraft racing.

So, an addendum: reality TV contestants (technical term: famewhores) do not count as people in filmed musicals; using famewhores ruins the box off power of buxom bikini babes.

Then again, the Troma team wrote an original musical with scantily clad women, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, and couldn't get even close to a proper theatrical run. They couldn't catch a cold with that film.

Clearly my theory needs work. I'll crack the modern American musical conundrum eventually. Then I'll be the one being pimped out by the Weinsteins come Oscar season.

Posted by: Robert at December 28, 2009 9:27 AM

I'm assuming NSA fun means no strings attached, but I'd rather it meant hot action with undercover spies, like some sort of erotic James Bond hookup site. "Why hello Moneypenny, fancy seeing you here." Just imagine that last sentence in a really crappy British accent.

Posted by: mrcreosote at December 28, 2009 9:29 AM

Translation: We are all drunk and lack the discipline and professional commitment necessary to raise this site above 7th tier.

Translation: I'm a whiny little baby with nothing better to do with my time than complain incessantly about a website that, ironically, I constantly read and habitually comment on.

Posted by: Skewicide Blonde at December 28, 2009 10:02 AM

An over-60 woman is arguably the biggest female box office star

Sorry to burst your glee-bubble, MaryScott, but as Meryl Streep IS arguably the worlds best actres, the biggest female box office is..

Emma Watson.

No One can beat Harry Potter!

But I already watched Julie&Julia (vomited a bit because of all the butter use) and loved her in that. We still use The Julia Voice sometimes on work.

And Oh Yeah, don't like musicals.

Posted by: Magiel at December 28, 2009 10:14 AM

I think that business about Emma Watson being the biggest female movie star is kind of flawed. She may have starred in movies that made huge amounts of money, but she's not the reason they made huge amounts of money. Streep is pretty much solely responsible for like 75% of the gross of any movie she's in.

Posted by: Todd at December 28, 2009 11:28 AM

Magiel- I disagree. You are going purely by the numbers. Ms. watson is the highest grossing, but she hardly carries the movies. They're called Harry Potter, not Hermione or whatever her name is. And those are all the credits she has. Meryl Streep has proved for three decades that she can play damn near any role and make it work. She is probably the best actress in the history of cinema. I know that will get some arguments, but certainly the best of the last quarter century.

Posted by: John Denver's Wingman at December 28, 2009 11:48 AM

Or...what Todd said.

Posted by: John Denver's Wingman at December 28, 2009 11:49 AM

She is probably the best actress in the history of cinema.

Katharine Hepburn's ghost is gonna kick your ass for that.

but certainly the best of the last quarter century.

Actually, never mind. That works.

Posted by: Skewicide Blonde at December 28, 2009 12:08 PM

I'd take Streep over Hepburn in the best-actress steel cage match. While it wouldn't be fair to say KH played the same role repeatedly, she did tend to bring a particular collection of traits to different roles (which she would then knock out of the park). Streep's range, on the other hand, is mind-blowing.

Posted by: sansho1 at December 28, 2009 12:21 PM





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