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Sunday
07Dec2008

Box Office - Tryptophan Causes 50% Drop in Ticket Sales

DateSunday, December 7, 2008 at 10:54AM
The weekend box office was really below par as December kicked off. Punisher: War Zone, the weekend's biggest release, only made $4 million, winding up with an eighth-place debut. Ouch.

The rest of the top ten, therefore, looks suspiciously like it did the previous weekend, only with smaller numbers. For example, the entire top ten only generated $73 million from Friday to Sunday, and just two weeks ago, Twilight did just under $70 million all on its own. It looks like some studio somewhere missed a golden opportunity to open big this weekend.

Four Christmases repeated as the top film in the land, with Twilight and Bolt rounding out the top three. Australia had its last hurrah, earning $7 million, which was good enough for fifth place. It's about a 50% drop from its opening weekend, and because it's only made $30 million in the U.S., the prospects are not good. Baz Luhrmann's pet project was tremendously expensive, and it's unlikely that it can make the kind of money on the international stage that it would need to turn a profit. So, it's on to the DVD market for that one.

Quantum of Solace finished the weekend in fourth place, but has slowed down a bit over the past two weeks, and looks less likely to become the first 007 movie to cross $200 million in U.S. ticket sales. It should still get to $175 million without too much trouble, but Casino Royale definitely had a stronger run after its opening weekend.

This weekend was particularly bad, as the film lost 65% of its crowd from the previous weekend. If you compare them head-to-head, Casino Royale actually made more money than Quantum of Solace in its fourth stanza - in fewer theaters.

The Top Five:

1 - Four Christmases ($18.2 million)
2 - Twilight ($13.2 million)
3 - Bolt ($10 million)
4 - Australia ($7 million)
5 - Quantum of Solace ($6.6 million)

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AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | CommentPost a Comment |

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