Harry Potter tangles with four newcomers and comes out on top during the second biggest overall Thanksgiving weekend ever!
Typically one of the most important box office weekends of the year, Thanksgiving offers moviegoers a chance to see new releases, finally see that potential Oscar contender or catch up with films they’ve wanted to see but simply haven’t had the time.
This year offers a veritable Thanksgiving feast of choices with last week’s number one film Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 leading the charge once again with a 60% second weekend drop and $50.34 million for the weekend $76.2 million for the five day Wednesday through Sunday time-frame. With IMAX enhanced revenues of $5.8 million or 12% of the weekend, a 10-day total of over $220 million was generated young Mr. Potter.
Potter 7: Three Day Total – $50.345 million/Five Day Total – $76.3 million
Disney is always a traditional family favorite during the holidays and this year will was no exception with the 3-D release of the animated fairy tale Tangled which performed way above expectations to the tune of $49.1 million for the weekend and an impressive $69 million for the five-day Wednesday through Sunday period. The film drew huge crowds young and old and Disney must be credited with mounting a tremendous marketing campaign. This updated story of Rapunzel will continue to build an audience as its appeal to families should be strong throughout the holidays. The international weekend was $13.8 million for a global 5-day total of $82.8 million. Tangled posted the second best opening for a Thanksgiving release ever just behind 1999’s Toy Story 2 and its $57.4/$80.1M 3-day/5-day combo.
Tangled: Three Day Total – $49.1 million/Five Day Total – $69.0 million
Check out our exclusive Tangled themed comic strip from Francesco Marciuliano. Francesco writes the internationally-syndicated comic strip “Sally Forth” and the webcomic “Medium Large.” He was the head writer for the PBS series “SeeMore’s Playhouse,” for which one of his episodes won two 2007 Daytime Emmys. He currently writes for the Onion News Network.
Paramount’s Megamind is still a major factor with families and kids for the holiday weekend. The film has been a powerhouse since its debut on November 5 and a 3-D enhanced revenue total of $130.5 million to date. Again, great marketing and a perfect film for the holidays has made this a consistent performer at the box office.
Megamind: Three Day Total – $12.8 million/Five Day Total – $17.5 million
Sony’s Burlesque brings two titans of the music scene together as Cher and Christina Aquilera share the silver screen in this story of a small town girl who comes to Los Angeles to work in a burlesque club run by a veteran of the scene. With appeal to those looking for a musically-themed film with risqué dance scenes and visual pageantry, Burlesque shimmied its way through the weekend with $11.8 million for the weekend and $17.2 million for the Wednesday through Sunday period.
Burlesque: Three Day Total – $11.8 million/Five Day Total – $17.2 million
Fox’s Unstoppable is still generating excitement at the nation’s theaters for the Thanksgiving movie-going action crowd and the Denzel Washington film directed by Tony Scott is still pulling like a freight train as it approaches $50 million in domestic revenue. A tiny 10% third weekend drop proves that summer-style action plays very well during the holidays.
Unstoppable: Three Day Total – $11.75 million/Five Day Total – $16.2 million
Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal will definitely make their mark with younger women who cannot get enough romance over Thanksgiving and their reluctant, but accommodating dates with the aptly titled Love and Other Drugs. Twentieth Century Fox found itself with a sixth place debut with $9.85 million for the weekend and a romance driven $14 million for its Wednesday through Sunday debut.
Love and Other Drugs: Three Day Total – $9.85 million/Five Day Total – $14.0 million
Debuting in the seventh spot is CBS Films’ Faster featuring action “go to” guy Dwayne Johnson in this action crime drama that earned $8.7 million for the weekend portion and $12.2 million for the first five days as it draws all the young dudes looking to avoid Rapunzel, Burlesque dancers, hopeless romantics and all things less manly at the multi-plex. CBS Films recouped their $12 million investment in the movie in the first five days of release.
Faster: Three Day Total – $8.7 million/Five Day Total – $12.2 million
This was the second best Thanksgiving weekend ever (behind only last year’s record frame led by Twilight: New Moon) with virtually every genre being duly represented by wizards, princesses, dancers, heroes, lovers and lots of moviegoers with plenty of holiday induced time on their hands going to the movies.
Top 10 Movies – For Thanksgiving Weekend 2010 (F-S-S Portion) – Estimates
Movie Weekend Total
1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (PG-13) $50.4 M $220.3 M
2 Tangled (PG) $49.1 M $69.0 M
3 Megamind (PG) $12.9 M $130.5 M
4 Burlesque (PG-13) $11.8 M $17.2 M
5 Unstoppable (PG-13) $11.8 M $60.7 M
6 Love and Other Drugs (R) $9.9 M $14.0 M
7 Faster (R) $8.7 M $12.2 M
8 Due Date (R) $7.3 M $85.0 M
9 The Next Three Days (PG-13) $4.8 M $14.6 M
10 Morning Glory (PG-13) $4.0 M $26.5 M
