Moviegoers decided to spend another Night at the Museum over the New Year’s weekend. The Ben Stiller comedy once again took the top spot at the North American box office with $37.8 million.
Will Smith‘s The Pursuit of Happyness took second place with $19.3 million, and although no new movies went into wide release, Dreamgirls, which expanded to more theaters Christmas Day, came in third place with $15.5 million, averaging a whopping $18,192 per screen. It was showing on just 852 screens, compared to 3,768 for Night at the Museum.
“We knew it was a movie that was a real crowd-pleaser,” Rob Moore, Paramount’s president of marketing and distribution, told The Associated Press. “The amazing word of mouth is bringing it along. It’s been a while since a musical really worked.”
The Top 12 movies grossed $147.7 million over the weekend, up 12.41 percent from last year’s draw of $131.4 million and up 35.70 percent from last weekend’s total of $108.8 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: Buena Vista’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which moved up to No. 1 in its fourth week of release with $25.6 million in 3,853 theaters, averaging $6,667 per theater; Universal’s King Kong, which dropped to second place in its third week with $24.7 million in 3,627 theaters, averaging $6,830 per theater; and Sony’s Fun with Dick and Jane, which opened in third place with $16.5 million in 3,056 theaters, averaging $5,407 per theater (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Night at the Museum (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $37.8 million (+24%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,768 (+83)
• Per-theater average: $10,032
No. 2: The Pursuit of Happyness (Sony, PG-13)
• Gross: $19.3 million (+30%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,870 (+7)
• Per-theater average: $6,725
• Cume to date: $98.3 million
No. 3: Dreamgirls (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $15.5 million (+6709)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 852
• Per-theater average: $18,192
• Cume to date: $38.4 million
No. 4: Charlotte’s Web (Paramount, G)
• Gross: $12 million (+59%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 3,745 (+17)
• Per-theater average: $3,204
• Cume to date: $52.8 million
No. 5: Rocky Balboa (MGM, PG)
• Gross: $11.3 million (-7%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,019 (+2)
• Per-theater average: $3,760
• Cume to date: $48.8 million
No. 6: The Good Shepherd (Universal, R)
• Gross: $11.2 million (+13%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,218 (+3)
• Per-theater average: $5,070
No. 7: Eragon (20th Cent. Fox, PG)
• Gross: $8.4 million (+21%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,985 (-45)
• Per-theater average: $2,839
• Cume to date: $56.6 million
No. 8: We Are Marshall (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $8 million (+31%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,606 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,079
No. 9: Happy Feet (Warner Bros., PG)
• Gross: $7.8 million (+52%)
• Weeks opened: 7
• Theaters: 2,565 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $3,055
• Cume to date: $176.1 million
No. 10: The Holiday (Sony Pictures, PG)
• Gross: $6.7 million (+38%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,698 (+81)
• Per-theater average: $2,483
• Cume to date: $50 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Pan’s Labyrinth (Picturehouse, R)
• Gross: $600,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 17
• Per-theater average: $35,294
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Paramount, R)
• Gross: $39,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3
• Per-theater average: $13,000
Miss Potter (MGM, PG)
• Gross: $9,074
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2
• Per-theater average: $4,537
The Dead Girl (First Look, R)
• Gross: $6,300
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2
• Per-theater average: $3,150
