Box Office - Big Debuts for 'Marley' and 'Benjamin Button'

As we always say after a holiday weekend, keep in mind that these numbers are slightly inflated because of the extra day, but there are still some pretty impressive figures over the Christmas four-day span, most notably the top film in the country and an Oscar front-runner. Marley & Me is, point blank, a big ol' hit. It not only won a weekend it wasn't necessarily expected to but it did so with consistent numbers all weekend and a $51 million debut, according to Box Office Mojo . Assuming the film cost under $100 million, which is a safe assumption, Marley is going to make a bunch of money and could prove to be a great elixir for both Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, both of whom could use a major blockbuster. Bedtime Stories finished the three-day weekend in second place, slightly off the mark in terms of its pre-weekend projections, but $38 million is certainly a good enough debut, especially considering that this is the last film aimed at families for the next few weeks. It ought to have fairly strong business until mid-January. I think everyone is surprised by how well The Curious Case of Benjamin Button performed; usually, Oscar movies don't start this strong. The Brad Pitt drama actually made slightly more money than Bedtime Stories over the four-day session, but that's because of a much bigger Christmas day than was expected. Still, I think everyone involved has to be happy about a $39 million start for the $130 million epic. There was also plenty of business for Valkyrie, the new WWII movie starring Tom Cruise. Anytime you can make $30 million over four days wih a lead actor with questionable box ofice clout, that's not bad. And considering that Valkyrie has the strongest reviews of the non-Button new releases, it could have some legs, as well. There might not be enough interest to secure $100 million domestically, but the film should play well in Europe because of the subject matter, meaning that United Artists probably (and finally) has a hit on Cruise's watch as studio head. The Top Five:
1 - Marley and Me - $51.6 million
2 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - $39 million
3 - Bedtime Stories - $38.6 million
4 - Valkyrie - $30 million 5 - Yes Man - $23 million