Box Office Analysis-Friday Surprises


Box office figures for Friday are in, and there are some surprising grosses to talk about.

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Four Christmases Makes Way Too Much Money

Posting an opening probably a little higher than expected, Four Christmases topped the box office friday with 13.2 million (all figures according to Variety.com and boxofficemojo.com).

The film now has grossed 28.2 million in 3 days.

This is depressing and inevitable.

Why it was inevitable

  • The trailer was funny
  • Vince Vaughn has developed a fairly potent comedy track record domestically
  • Reese Witherspoon certainly has a following as well
  • The concept is relatable, high concept, and comfortable (viewers know what to expect)

Why it’s depressing

  • The movie is not particularly funny
  • It…combined with last year’s Fred Claus and the year before that’s The Break-Up…represents a continuing decline in returns from Vince Vaugh as a comic force
  • The fact that it is going to make money will create more movies like it

THE GOOD NEWS

Milk had a solid day

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Milk did pretty well in limited release, making nearly half a million off 36 runs. Per theatre average was 13,836. Milk is a great movie and one Focus hopes to push to the mainstream, the solid start was a good way to begin the film’s roll out.

And the rest…

Transporter 3 was disturbingly consistent with the previous films, coming in between the 3 million opening day take of Transporter and the 5.5 million opening day of Transporter 2. Both of those films opened on a Friday though, Transporter 3 opened Wednesday.

Twilight did 10.8 million, a big 70% dropoff from the previous friday, though it has now crossed the beloved 100 million mark.

Bolt picked up some steam after what was considered a somewhat disappointing opening. It did 10.9 million on Friday, which was pretty good considering it did 7 million the Friday it opened.

Australia did 5.8 million on Friday, which was probably about in line with expectations. This big movie will face its bigger test overseas.