THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG Reigns At The Box Office
Disney’s The Princess and the Frog took the top spot at the weekend box office, expanding wide to earn an estimated $25 million. While not shattering too many records (though it did set the record for highest grossing start for an animated movie in December), Princess‘ numbers were strong considering how 2D animation has declined in recent years. Also, the family-friendly flicks typically build steam through the Christmas season, where slow and steady tends to win the race.
Invictus, the other new wide opener, was unable to gain a foothold in its debut however. Bowing in 3rd place with $9.1 million, the figures were rather disappointing for the star-studded pedigree of the movie’s cast and crew. Director Clint Eastwood and stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon were unable to drum up enough interest in the political/sports hybrid picture, perhaps due to the South African and Rugby setting not clicking with American audiences.
The Blind Side, last week’s reigning champ, fared much better. The football movie held on to 2nd place with only a 23% drop, pulling in $15.5 million in its fourth weekend of release for a $150.2 million total. The Twilight Saga: New Moon continued its steady decline with a 48% drop to $8 million, good enough for 4th place. A Christmas Carol however only dropped off 11.5%, with its holiday theme aligning with the Christmas mood. It finished in 5th place with $6.9 million, bringing its total to $124.5 million. The box office has been particularly strong this year as, in the middle of last week, 2009 officially became the highest grossing year in Hollywood history (though the attendance record in the modern era still belongs to 2002).
Up in the Air expanded to 72 theaters and grossed $2.5 million, cracking the top 12 for the 11th place spot. A Single Man bowed at 9 sites for $216,000, or a $24,000 per-theater average. Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones also debuted in limited release, hitting 3 theaters for $116,000, or a relatively underwhelming $38,667 average considering the blockbuster nature of the pic.
Next week sees James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar open against the Hugh Grant-Sarah Jessica Parker comedy Did You Hear About The Morgans? The early reviews for Avatar have been extremely positive, and it’s certainly going to need to be a heck of a box office juggernaut to make back its purported $400+ million budget. It should beat out The Morgans handily (or let us hope it does, for all our sakes). In limited release, Jeff Bridges’ Crazy Heart will hit theaters, as will Rob Marshall’s star-studded musical drama Nine. The record stands at 55 for 77.
Check out the top 12 below, or head on over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart:
New releases highlighted in yellow
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | 16 | The Princess and the Frog | BV | $25,000,000 | +3,243.5% | 3,434 | +3,432 | $7,280 | $27,880,000 | $105 | 3 |
| 2 | 1 | The Blind Side | WB | $15,450,000 | -22.9% | 3,388 | +62 | $4,560 | $150,212,000 | $29 | 4 |
| 3 | N | Invictus | WB | $9,085,000 | - | 2,125 | - | $4,275 | $9,085,000 | $60 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Sum. | $8,000,000 | -48.1% | 3,635 | -489 | $2,201 | $267,360,000 | $50 | 4 |
| 5 | 4 | A Christmas Carol (2009) | BV | $6,871,000 | -11.5% | 2,402 | -144 | $2,861 | $124,464,000 | $200 | 6 |
| 6 | 3 | Brothers | LGF | $5,000,000 | -47.5% | 2,088 | - | $2,395 | $17,402,000 | $26 | 2 |
| 7 | 6 | 2012 | Sony | $4,400,000 | -35.0% | 1,838 | -1,382 | $2,394 | $155,337,000 | $200 | 5 |
| 8 | 5 | Old Dogs | BV | $4,396,000 | -36.2% | 3,090 | -335 | $1,423 | $39,983,000 | $35 | 3 |
| 9 | 7 | Armored | SGem | $3,500,000 | -46.2% | 1,919 | +4 | $1,824 | $11,747,000 | $20 | 2 |
| 10 | 8 | Ninja Assassin | WB | $2,710,000 | -46.5% | 2,100 | -403 | $1,290 | $34,307,000 | $40 | 3 |
| 11 | 13 | Up in the Air | Par. | $2,450,000 | +107.4% | 72 | +57 | $34,028 | $4,038,000 | $25 | 2 |
| 12 | 9 | Planet 51 | Sony | $2,300,000 | -47.6% | 2,570 | -334 | $895 | $37,175,000 | $70 | 4 |
Tags: A Christmas Carol, A Single Man, Avatar, Box Office, Crazy Heart, Did You Hear About The Morgans?, Invictus, Nine, The Blind Side, The Lovely Bones, The Princess and the Frog, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Up In The Air
