ErikLundegaard.com - Hollywood B.O.: 'Twilight' Stumbles, 'Lincoln' Surges

Hollywood B.O.: 'Twilight' Stumbles, 'Lincoln' Surges

The headlines are all about how “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2” and “Skyfall” led the way during this record-setting Thanksgiving weekend. The previous overall record was $175.2 million, set three years ago, and the new record is $206.7 million, which, yes, is about what “The Avengers” grossed opening weekend in May.

Here are the headlines:

Box Office Mojo: Weekend Report: 'Twilight,' Bond Dominate Fruitful Thanksgiving
BoxOffice.com: 'Breaking Dawn - Part 2' Leads During Record-Setting 5-Day Frame
IMDb: Box Office Shatters Thanksgiving Record Behind 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2' and 'Skyfall'

And here's the top 10:

	Movie	Weekend	Thtrs /Change		Average	Total Gross
1	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 2	$43,070,000	4,070	-	$10,582	$226,951,000
2	Skyfall	$36,000,000	3,526	21	$10,210	$221,720,000
3	Lincoln	$25,020,000	2,018	243	$12,398	$62,178,000
4	Rise of the Guardians	$24,025,000	3,653	-	$6,577	$32,607,000
5	Life of Pi	$22,000,000	2,902	-	$7,581	$30,150,000
6	Wreck-It Ralph	$16,760,000	3,259	-363	$5,143	$149,512,000
7	Red Dawn (2012)	$14,600,000	2,724	-	$5,360	$22,004,000
8	Flight	$8,600,000	2,638	26	$3,260	$74,880,000
9	Silver Linings Playbook	$4,623,000	367	351	$12,597	$6,451,000
10	Argo	$3,875,000	1,255	-955	$3,088	$98,114,000

So the headlines are technically accurate.

The amazing thing is that during a record-breaking weekend, in which it was the No. 1 movie, the “Twilight” movie still fell off by nearly 70%:

	Movie	Weekend	% Diff.	Average	Total Gross
1	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2	$43,070,000	-69.50%	$10,582	$226,951,000
2	Skyfall	$36,000,000	-12.40%	$10,210	$221,720,000
3	Lincoln	$25,020,000	18.90%	$12,398	$62,178,000
4	Rise of the Guardians	$24,025,000	-	$6,577	$32,607,000
5	Life of Pi	$22,000,000	-	$7,581	$30,150,000
6	Wreck-It Ralph	$16,760,000	-9.80%	$5,143	$149,512,000
7	Red Dawn (2012)	$14,600,000	-	$5,360	$22,004,000
8	Flight	$8,600,000	-2.30%	$3,260	$74,880,000
9	Silver Linings Playbook	$4,623,000	943.60%	$12,597	$6,451,000
10	Argo	$3,875,000	-4.20%	$3,088	$98,114,000

Look at the other films. “Silver Linings Playbook” went wider than its original dozen or so theaters and increased exponentially. “Lincoln” added 243 theaters in its third weekend and increased by nearly 20%. That indicates very good word-of-mouth. The others—“Argo,” “Flight,” “Wreck-It Ralph”—dropped single percentages. Again: impressive.

And “Twilight”? Or “TTS:BDP2”? It had the 12th-biggest second-weekend drop for any film opening in more than 3,000 theaters:

	Movie	1st Wknd	$ Drop	2nd Wknd	Thtrs
1	Friday the 13th (2009)	$40,570,365	-80.40%	$7,942,472	3,105
2	Doom	$15,488,870	-72.70%	$4,228,385	3,042
3	A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)	$32,902,299	-72.30%	$9,119,389	3,332
4	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2	$169,189,427	-72.00%	$47,422,212	4,375
5	Paranormal Activity 4	$29,003,866	-70.70%	$8,510,186	3,412
6	Hellboy II: The Golden Army	$34,539,115	-70.70%	$10,117,815	3,212
7	Valentine's Day	$56,260,707	-70.40%	$16,665,299	3,665
8	The Twilight Saga: New Moon	$142,839,137	-70.00%	$42,870,031	4,042
9	Eragon	$23,239,907	-69.90%	$7,006,467	3,030
10	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1	$138,122,261	-69.80%	$41,683,574	4,066
11	Hulk	$62,128,420	-69.70%	$18,847,620	3,674
12	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2	$141,067,634	-69.50%	$43,070,000	4,070

Among movies opening in more than 4,000 theaters? Fourth-biggest: the last “Harry Potter” and then two previous “Twilight” movies. So in a certain sense, it improved, right? A bit? At the same time, when seemingly everyone was going to the movies, “TTS:DBP2” still fell off nearly 70%.

In other good news, “Red Dawn” was finally released to a big yawn. It finished in 7th place. I guess American moviegoers have better things to do than indulge in the right-wing fantasy of North Korea, a tiny country that can barely feed itself, successfully attacking what is after all the strongest country in the history of the world. The Duchy of Grand Fenwick would have a better shot.

The numbers here.

Go see “Lincoln.” My nephew Jordy wants you to.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln"

Lincoln: first in war, first in peace, and third at the box office.

COMMENTS

CWaldenNelson wrote:

Hee! The Mouse That Roared! PS The Conch Republic, my home micronation, did the same damn thing over border patrol roadblocks at the end of US 1.

Never underestimate the power of Rum Drinks!