Skyfall Rises Back To The Top Of The US Box Office

The couple of weeks after Thanksgiving always tend to be dominated by holdovers at the US box office, but this year it’s been particularly light on new entries, seemingly because everyone is running scared of The Hobbit, which is expected to completely take over cinemas this coming weekend.

This has allowed Skyfall to rise back to the top of the US box office on its fifth weekend, taking $11.4 million over the three days. It’s not a huge amount to make it to the top of the chart, and indeed overall it’s been the third worst weekend at the boox office this year. However it’s good news for Skyfall, as no movie has toped the box office on its fifth weekend since 2010.

The only major new release tanked, with the Gerard Butler soccer themed rom-com Playing For Keeps taking just $6 million on its first three days.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of December 7th-9th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 Skyfall $11.4 $261.6
2 Rise Of The Guardians $10.5 $61.9
3 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 $9.2 $268.7
4 Lincoln $9.1 $97.3
5 Life Of Pi $8.3 $60.8
6 Playing For Keeps $6.0 $6.0
7 Wreck-It Ralph $4.9 $164.4
8 Red Dawn $4.2 $37.2
9 Flight $3.1 $86.2
10 Killing Them Softly $2.7 $11.7

Twilight Breaking Dawn 2 Tops US Box Office Again, With Killing Them Softly Bombing

The post Thanksgiving box office is traditionally dominated by holdovers and that’s certainly true this year, with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 topping the US chart again, taking another $17 million to hit $255 million in America so far. It also hit a franchise record internationally over the weekend, taking $447 million outside the US, ahead of Breaking Dawn Part 1′s total of $430.9 million.

New releases didn’t do very well at all, with Brad Pitt’s latest, Killing The Softly, only placing seventh on the chart with $7 million, way below what the distributors had hoped. Even worse, it’s getting terrible notices from audiences, suggesting it will quickly disappear with trace.

The only other new entry is the horror flick The Collection, which took $3.4 million to place 10th on the chart.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of November 30th-December 2nd.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 $17.4 $255
2 Skyfall $17 $246
3 Rise Of The Guardians $13.5 $48.9
4 Lincoln $13.5 $83.7
5 Life Of Pi $12 $48.4
6 Wreck-It Ralph $7 $158
7 Killing The Softly $7 $7
8 Red Dawn $6.5 $31.3
9 Flight $4.5 $81.5
10 The Collection $3.4 $3.4

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 Rips Into US Box Office

It might not have hit the $150-$160 million opening some were predicting, but The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn Part 2 was certainly no slouch at the US box office, taking $141 million, which is the eighth biggest first three-day take ever. It was slightly behind New Moon, which still holds the franchise record with $142 million, but slightly ahead of Breaking Dawn Part 1.

Globally the movie made $340 million over the weekend, which ain’t a bad total at all. It’s the franchise’s best opening internationally.

While there were no other brand new openers in the US top 10, Lincoln made its first appearance after its strong opening on just 11 screens last week. After expanding onto 1700 screen, it took $21 million to place third on the chart. It’s a very healthy take considering the subject matter and period setting – and the fact it doesn’t promise vast amounts of action.

Take a look below for the US box office Top 10 for the weekend of November 16th-18th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 $141.3 $141.3
2 Skyfall $41.5 $161.3
3 Lincoln $21.0 $22.4
4 Wreck-It Ralph $18.3 $121.4
5 Flight $8.6 $61.3
6 Argo $4.0 $92.0
7 Taken 2 $2.1 $134.6
8 Pitch Perfect $1.2 $62.0
9 Here Comes The Boom $1.2 $41.0
10 Cloud Atlas $0.9 $24.8

Skyfall Takes Over The US Box Office With A Franchise Record

Throughout last week, the predictions of how well Skyfall would do on its US opening kept growing. It went from a possible $50 million debut, until the day before its opening many were thinking $60 million, perhaps even $70 million. By Friday the predictions had reached $80 million, but in the end even that was too conservative, as by Sunday it had hit $90 million.

That’s way ahead of the previous biggest Bond opening, which was Quantum Of Solace’s $67 million, and more than double Casino Royal’s $40 million first three days take. It’s an impressive debut, especially as for many years, 007 has been softer in the US than elsewhere. But then, perhaps Americans had gotten wind of how crazy the rest of the world has been for the movie, as it’s predicted that by the end of today, the film will have taken more outside the US than any previous Bond movie, and it’s done that in less than three weeks.

Skyfall was the only new entry in the US top 10, but a little further down, Spielberg’s Lincoln placed 15th with $900,000 on its opening, but it was only playing on 11 screens. That means it took an impressive $81,818 per cinema. The real test through will come next weekend, when it expands massively across the country.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend on November 9th-11th.

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 Skyfall $87.7 $90.0
2 Wreck-It Ralph $33.0 $93.6
3 Flight $15.1 $47.7
4 Argo $6.7 $85.7
5 Taken 2 $4.0 $131.2
6 Here Comes The Boom $2.5 $39.0
7 Cloud Atlas $2.5 £23
8 Pitch Perfect $2.5 $59.0
9 The Man With The Iron Fists $2.4 $12.7
10 Hotel Transylvania $2.0 $140.9

Wreck-It Ralph Smashes Into US Box Office

Wreck-It Ralph certainly got a good start this weekend, with the highest opening ever for a non-Pixar Disney animated movie. The film took $49.1 million, just ahead of Tangled’s $48.8 million debut. It’s a great start, helped by the fact it appealed to both boys and girls, and with little to challenge it in the family demographic over the next few weeks, it should have strong legs.

Robert Zemeckis’ return to live action, Flight, was no slouch either, with the Denzel Washington starring film taking a far better than expected $25.1 million in its first three days. On a per-theater average, that’s actually better than Wreck-It Ralph, as going against the conventional wisdom that for a big opening you need 3000+ screens, Flight opened on just 1800. It’s particularly good as well for an R rated movie with mixed reviews.

The final new entry on the chart was RZA’s directorial debut, The Man With The Iron Fists, which placed fourth with $8.2 million. Although about what was expected, it’s not a great start, although it’s always been thought the stylised kung-fu action would play better outside the US.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of November 2nd-4th:

Rank Title Weekend Gross (millions) Total Gross to date (millions)
1 Wreck-It Ralph $49.1 $49.1
2 Flight $25.0 $25.0
3 Argo $10.2 $75.8
4 The Man With The Iron Fists $8.2 $8.2
5 Taken 2 $6.0 $125.6
6 Cloud Atlas $5.2 $18.2
7 Hotel Transylvania $4.5 $137.4
8 Paranormal Activity 4 $4.3 $49.5
9 Here Comes The Boom $3.6 $35.5
10 Silent Hill: Revelation $3.3 $13.9

New Flight International Trailer – Denzel Washington is a bit of a drunken hero


After spending the last decade faffing about with motion capture movies, director Robert Zemeckis returns to the live action arena with Flight, which should hit cinemas UK cinemas on February 1st, 2013. In the action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault, and what really happened on that plane?

New Posters For Broken City, Flight & Great Expectations Debut

A few new posters have shown up online in the past few hours, including the rather pretty one above (via Empire) for Mike Newell’s new take on Dickens’ Great Expectations, which hits cinemas on November 30th and stars Jeremy Irvine, Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes.

Take a look below for the first poster for Broken City, plus two for Robert Zemeckis’ Flight.

Broken City follow Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg), a former cop who is hired to tail the cheating wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of the city’s corrupt mayor (Russell Crowe). Taggart successfully finds the man that the woman is sleeping with, but it’s not until after the man has been murdered.The movie is currently set for UK release on January 25th, 2013. (Image via IMDB)

In the action-packed mystery thriller Flight, Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault, and what really happened on that plane? It’s due out in the UK January 25th, 2013. Two posters have arrives, a UK one above via Empire and the US one below via Hitfix.

Flight Trailer – Robert Zemeckis returns to live action filmmaking


After spending the last decade faffing about with motion capture movies, director Robert Zemeckis returns to the live action arena with Flight, which should hit cinemas this November. In the action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault, and what really happened on that plane? It’s due out this November.