Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn star in "Four Christmases," which debuted at No. 1.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Thanksgiving weekend movie crowds gobbled up
the Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn holiday comedy "Four
Christmases," which debuted at No. 1 with $31.7 million, according to
studio estimates Sunday.
The Warner Bros. release, featuring Witherspoon and Vaughn as a
couple suffering through four separate family holiday gatherings,
raised its total to $46.7 million since opening Wednesday to get a head
start on the long weekend. In terms of revenue, it was
Hollywood's second-biggest Thanksgiving period ever. The top 12 movies
took in $223.7 million from Wednesday to Sunday, trailing only the
$232.2 million haul over Thanksgiving in 2000. Summit
Entertainment's vampire romance "Twilight," which had a huge No. 1
opening the previous weekend, took a steep 62 percent decline from its
$69.6 million debut and was neck-and-neck for second place with
Disney's animated family flick "Bolt." Based on Sunday's
estimates, "Bolt" had a slight lead with $26.6 million for the weekend,
compared to $26.4 million for "Twilight." Their rankings could change
once final numbers are released Monday.
"Twilight' is still a phenomenon, but you can't really maintain
that level of intensity week after week," said Paul Dergarabedian,
president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "Twilight" raised its 10-day total to $119.7 million, while "Bolt" lifted its sum to $66.9 million.
Hollywood typically releases a handful of holiday-themed movies
starting in November, but "Four Christmases" has the market virtually
to itself this season. "It was the perfect time. It's the only
movie out there that deals with Christmas," said Dan Fellman, head of
distribution for Warner Bros. The only potential competition comes December 12 with the John Leguizamo tale "Nothing Like the Holidays."
The weekend's other new wide release, the Nicole Kidman-Hugh Jackman
epic "Australia," opened at No. 5 with $14.8 million for the weekend
and $20 million since debuting Wednesday. The 20th Century Fox
film reunites Kidman with "Moulin Rouge" director Baz Luhrmann for a
World War II-era romance between an aristocratic British woman and an
Australian ranch hand.
Sean Penn's drama "Milk" got off to a great start in limited
release, coming in at No. 10 with $1.4 million in just 36 theaters. The
film had a strong average of $38,375 a cinema, compared with $9,571 in
3,310 theaters for "Four Christmases." "Milk," an Academy Awards
contender released by Focus Features, stars Penn as gay-rights pioneer
Harvey Milk, the San Francisco city supervisor slain by a colleague who
also killed the mayor. The film expands to more theaters Friday.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian
theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be
released Monday.
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