Weekend Box Office: Soccer Mom Bonanza As ‘New Moon’ Battles ‘The Blind Side’

Last weekend, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” grossed a little over $111 million more than “The Blind Side” over the three day weekend. During this holiday session, however, that gap was narrowed down to $2 million. Chalk this one up to the fickle nature of the “Twilight” fanbase, as well as the burgeoning return of the word-of-mouth hit that is “The Blind Side.” “New Moon” dropped 70% (which we sorta predicted) to just barely take the lead over the three day weekend, nabbing $66 million for the five day. The fall was expected, but “New Moon” still clocks in at $231 million, Chris Weitz will continue to work, and shooting continues on “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” Some in the internet reporting world have shown us the potential wellspring of insanity should the fourth book, “Breaking Dawn” hit cameras, so at this point, we’re sorta rooting for it, though, from what we hear, “New Moon” has already taken in $200 million more than its budget domestically while standing at a worldwide figure of around $400. We don’t need to celebrate this thing any more than it already has been.

“The Blind Side”, John Lee Hancock’s white person corrective to “Precious,” saw an unprecedented spike. Over the three day weekend, the Sandra Bullock star vehicle about the noble white Christians who take in some strange, illiterate minority and get him involved in a stereotypical minority pastime actually surged from its lofty opening, increasing 17% over it’s $30+ million opening, and bringing in $57 million over the five day to bring the total to $100 million. The film is only the second this entire year to score a Cinemascore rating of A+, meaning that women are connecting to the strong female lead (despite her face-freezing plastic surgery look), men are connecting to the football (because football fans must like anything football related- check the grosses on football-exclusive sports movies*) and because families are connecting to the main story strand of a strong Christian family. What this means for Hollywood is that you’ll see more of an emphasis on family-centeric stories (giving work to most of Hollywood’s middle-aged actresses, which might be good), and a continued marginalization of black youths who can’t catch or throw a ball. Also, don’t be surprised to see “The Blind Side” enter the awards race with the people’s choice vote, though unless the film crosses $200 million, we’re probably only talking acknowledgment for Sandra Bullock and possibly some Golden Globe nominations.

The new arrivals didn’t compare to the two returning champs. “Old Dogs,” which some figured would do smashing family business, just couldn’t lure people in with it’s two over-the-hill box office stars, anamatronic apes and crotch gags, pulling in a five day gross of $24 million, placing it underneath the three week old “2012,” at $138 million with much more needed to maintain a profit-earning pace. Coming in at #5 with a second wind was “A Christmas Carol,” which experienced a 30% post-holiday bump to get back into the game with a $23 million five day weekend, beating out “Ninja Assassin.” James McTeigue has likely seen the wind knocked out of his sails in his quest to be an A-List action director by that film’s #6 showing, pulling in a $21 million take in a five day weekend, likely enough to secure profit for the cheap cash-in.

“Precious,” meanwhile, pulled in its first less-than-stellar weekend. The film still averaged $10k per screen, but the expansion over the holiday weekend was only to 34 extra locations (still less than 700) and the film only grabbed $9.4 million worth of ticket-buyers over the five day weekend. It’s fallen below the pace it was keeping with last year’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” and while it’s unquestionably a success for Lionsgate, they may have missed their chance to smash open the box office. Is a 1000 theater expansion in the cards? It looks a lot less likely now. News was a lot worse for Fox Searchlight’s “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” which carried more sizable expectations. In its opening period in wide release, “Fox” generated only $9.5 million over the five day weekend in over 2000 theaters. Could be that the stop-motion look turned-off audiences, but we may have learned our lesson from this year — we may let Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson make kids’ films, but loud and obnoxious in the vein of “Ice Age 3” and “Night At The Museum” will always win the day.**

In limited release, “The Road” was a very big winner, with its per-screen average of $13.7k besting anything in the top ten. It finished at #11 at only 111 locations, with a five day take of $2 million, which bodes well for a stronger expansion, but do the Weinsteins have the capital to sponsor a potential fringe hit like this? The weekend’s biggest limited-release shower was, predictably, Disney’s “Princess And The Frog,” which opened on two screens for a spectacular $712k cume for the three days and $1.1 million for the five days. Even with the holiday, doing over $1 million on only two screens is pretty huge, though a wider release will have to wait until December 11th. The weekend also saw limited releases of “The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee” and “Me And Orson Welles,” the former doing $96k on twelve screens for its three days of release, the latter scoring $86k for the five-day on only four screens.

In expansion news, a big surprise was the sudden emergence of “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day,” which threatened the top ten with a 169 theater expansion, ringing up a five day total of $1.3 million, the most successful yet in the film’s five week run. Say what you will about the franchise, Apparition’s release pattern is very slowly but surely connecting with its intended fans through grassroots marketing and a steady rollout. Meanwhile, “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” expanded into thirty more venues and ran its total up to $692k in two weeks — First Look would do well to mimic Apparition’s “Boondock” expansion strategy for this film, which will surely connect with fans, particularly in urban areas, over the next few weeks as a viable underground alternative. Support your local indie theaters, people.

Three Day Weekend Numbers
1. Jacob V. Edward- $42.5 million ($231 mil.)
2. Sandra Bullock, The Most Reliable Name In Big Screen Race Relations- $40.1 million ($100 mil.)
3. Explodo- $18 million ($139 mil.)
4. Old Dogs- $16.8 million ($24 mil.)
5. A Christmas Carol- $16 million ($105 mil.)
6. Ninja Assassin- $13.1 million ($21 mil.)
7. Planet 51- $10.2 million ($25 mil.)
8. Precious: Based On ‘Dune’ Fan-Fiction By Sapphire- $7.1 million ($33 mil.)
9. The Fantastic Mr. Fox- $7 million ($10 mil.)
10. The Men Who Stare At Goats- $1.5 million ($31 mil.)

*What is it about football films that they seem like the primary film genre for addressing race issues? Worth discussing.
**What’s wrong with you? See “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” you assholes.