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According to Boxofficemojo, holiday cheer is currently ruling the silver screen. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Four Christmases was number one at domestic theaters this past weekend with an estimated haul of $18 million. This is the movie's second weekend out, and it's the second time that it captured the top slot. What gives? Seriously. Is the movie that good? I expressed similar sentiment last week about the flick. I guess congratulations are in order for Time Warner and its marketing machine.
And I continue to be surprised by Summit Entertainment's Twilight. The teen phenomenon doesn't seem as phenomenal to me anymore. It came in second over the weekend, and its cumulative gross now stands at slightly under $140 million. Is it me, or were you thinking that Twilight would have snared over $200 million by now?
And just to prove that all my expectations are being turned upside down, let me say that I thought Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Bolt would have surely made it past the century mark by its third weekend at the multiplex. Not even close. Right now, Bolt has close to $80 million in its dog bowl (hey, I had to come up with one goofy pun, right?). By comparison, DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which is distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA), has grossed about $165 million after its fifth weekend at bat.
And as for the dud of the weekend, say hello to Lions Gate Entertainment's (NYSE: LGF) Punisher: War Zone. It only managed to grab around $4 million in its debut weekend. Marvel (NYSE: MVL) shareholders were surely hoping for more, but it's no big deal. I don't think anyone was either buying Marvel for the long term or trading it for the short term on the new Punisher picture.
It's not a self-produced film (i.e., when Marvel licenses its intellectual properties to other studios, it does not have the same kind of upside in terms of profit participation as it does when it makes a film on its own), and no one, including me, was expecting Spider-Man-like grosses. Hey, at least one of my expectations didn't go astray. Cool!
In closing, let me say that I hope the holiday box-office season gets a little more exciting as it continues. In particular, I'm looking forward to seeing how News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) The Day The Earth Stood Still fares. Unlike Four Christmases, I want to see that one.
Disclosure: I own Disney; positions can change at any time.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-08-2008 @ 10:36AM
Dan Barnett said...
It was an off week for movies. Nothing exciting, an "R" rated comic book opening, & no buzz. It's not surprising that $18m could take the weekend (Batman had better hours) & a pleasant average movie could hold onto #1
12-09-2008 @ 4:20AM
gestrica said...
Four Christmases (2008) a movie i saw lately from http://www.80millionmoviesfree.com it was out standing. I have seen many comedies but this was different. Giving the hope for Christmases also telling the importance of family grate movie for any body who need to think about his family.
Christmases (2008) gives lot to think about as you going home after seen it.
12-09-2008 @ 1:12PM
Jody Truett said...
Vince Vaughn stick to the movies you do best, those great college movies and the funny ones... What happened?