The Christmas US box office is slightly unusual, as while it was a holiday four-day weekend, rather than releasing movie on a Friday, many of the studios decided to either release their movie early or wait until Christmas itself, largely because they now Christmas Eve always tends to be an unsually weak day (whereas Saturday is normally the best day of the week). The result is that while some of these new films movies got off to decent starts, they couldn’t beat out previously released flicks.
The chart topper was Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which is shaping up to be a decent blockbuster for Paramount. Expanding into normal cinemas after its IMAX start last weekend, the movie took a strong $46 million over the Christmas weekend, and should take a lot more leading into New Year..
The top new entry was at number four, with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo taking $19.4 million over the weekend following its release in the middle of last week. It’s an okay start for a rather serious, R-rated movie, but the studio was hoping that with David Fincher at the helm it would really hit it big.
The Adventures Of Tintin came in fifth with $16.1 million, which is a disappointment after the movie hit it big in the rest of the world, having already grossed $239 million internationally. We Bought A Zoo came next with $15.6 million, which is lower than had been hoped for, but it’s rather early to say if it can make up ground over the coming days.
Spielberg’s War Horse didn’t get released until Sunday, so it’s two-day take of $15.0 million isn’t too bad at all, especially for a period war movie. Many are thinking the film could well turn into a decent sized hit and will end up as the highest grossing of the Christmas releases. The final new entry was the sci-fi flick The Darkest Hour, which took a weak $5.5 million.
Overall the box office was up on last year, which will be a relief to Hollywood after several weeks where things have been in the doldrums. However, many have been predicting problems due to the fact the release schedule is ridiculously packed. It certainly seems that with so much competition, the new movies (and indeed the holdovers) have all opened lower than they might have if they’d had a clearer run.
Take a look below for the Christmas 2011 US box office top 10.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | $46.2 | $78.6 |
| 2 | Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows | $31.8 | $90.5 |
| 3 | Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked | $20.0 | $56.9 |
| 4 | The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo | $19.4 | $27.7 |
| 5 | The Adventures Of Tintin | $16.1 | $24.1 |
| 6 | We Bought A Zoo | $15.6 | $15.6 |
| 7 | War Horse | $15.0 | $15.0 |
| 8 | The Darkest Hour | $5.5 | $5.5 |
| 9 | New Year’s Eve | $4.9 | $34.2 |
| 10 | The Descendants | $3.4 | $33.7 |
General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser
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