December 5, 2010
The post-Thanksgiving doldrums were in full effect over the weekend. Tangled climbed past Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 just as the movies' trajectories suggested, though neither held well. Hollywood generally shuns the post-Thanksgiving timeframe in regards to new releases, and it was no exception this weekend: The Warrior's Way was the sole nationwide debut and a weak one at that. Overall business was down 14 percent from the same weekend last year when The Blind Side led, and it was the least-attended post-Thanksgiving weekend since 1997.
Tangled drew an estimated $21.5 million, tumbling 56 percent from last weekend. Walt Disney Pictures last Thanksgiving princess event, Enchanted, was off 52 percent at the same point, grossing less but selling more tickets. In 12 days, though, Tangled has generated $96.5 million, which was well ahead of Enchanted's comparable $80.9 million tally, and it will soon surpass The Princess and the Frog's $104.4 million final total. Again, around 56 percent of Tangled's business was from 3D-illusion presentations.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 plummeted 66 percent to an estimated $16.7 million, falling harder and making less than Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on its post-Thanksgiving weekend. In 17 days, Deahtly Hallows Part 1 has earned $244.2 million, trailing The Twilight Saga: New Moon's $255.4 million day-17 tally and all previous Potters in terms of estimated attendance through day 17.
The family movies in general were most affected outside the warm glow of Thanksgiving: Megamind saw a 60 percent depletion, falling to sixth place after coming in third last weekend. Among other holdovers, Burlesque held a bit better than Rent at the same point, slowing 49 percent to an estimated $6.1 million for a $27 million 12-day sum. Unstoppable was off 47 percent to an estimated $6.1 million for a $68.9 million haul in 24 days, driving past the final gross of star Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott's last train thriller, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Love and Other Drugs dropped a relatively light 42 percent to an estimated $5.7 million for a $22.6 million tally in 12 days.
Few followed The Warrior's Way, which moseyed in with an estimated $3.05 million at 1,622 locations and ranked ninth. The cowboys and ninjas action movie made significantly less than such low-flying movies as Jonah Hex, Dragonball Evolution, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and Punisher: War Zone, which grossed $4.3 million on the same weekend in 2008. The marketing made the picture look cartoonish and slapdash and later embraced the campiness by trying to make a catchphrase out of the line "Ninjas... Damn!" (uttered by Geoffrey Rush), which was repeated in the title cards of many of the ads.
In limited release, Black Swan produced a lot of clatter, garnering an estimated $1.4 million at 18 locations, which was a bit better than Up in the Air's start in the same slot last year.
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