Thanksgiving auds chose football over vampires, making Warner Bros.’ “The Blind Side” the top film at the holiday box office with $9.5 million off 3,110.
After posting double-digit grosses throughout the week, including a record Thanksgiving-eve gross of $14.3 million, the Thursday B.O. for Summit Entertainment’s “Twilight: The New Moon Saga” eased to an estimated $9.2 million from 4,042.
A similar box office trend occurred last Thanksgiving, when a Warner Bros. release skewing to an older crowd, unseated the younger “Twilight” demo: Vince Vaughn-Reese Witherspoon comedy “Four Christmases” drew $8.9 million while the first installment of the vampire franchise took $5.2 million.
However, yesterday’s gap between “Blind Side” and “New Moon” is much slimmer, with industry estimates expecting “New Moon” to power back to the top spot throughout the weekend.
On Wednesday, the $14.3 million generated by “New Moon” exceeded the daily B.O. of “Blind Side” by 81% with the Sandra Bullock football drama pulling in $7.9 million. Prior to “New Moon,” the biggest haul on Thanksgiving eve came from 2005’s “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” which made $14.1 million.
In its first week, “New Moon” generated $188.4 million. Summit will be reporting international tallies on Sunday.
Overall, the top 10 films on Thanksgiving generated an estimated $39.4 million, a 20% gain over the holiday’s tally last year.
Warner Bros. also had another win in third place with its R-rated actioner “Ninja Assassin” which pulled in $4.6 million from 2,503. Since its Wednesday bow, “Ninja” has collected $7.9 million.
Walt Disney’s PG comedy “Old Dogs” starring John Travolta and Robin Williams took fourth with $4.1 million off 3,425 for a two-day gross of $7.2 million.
Sony’s “2012” filed fifth with an estimated $4.0 million off 3,444, up 27% from its Thursday B.O. a week ago. To date, “2012” counts a domestic total of $120.8 million.
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol” charted sixth with $3.8 million off 3,013, a near three fold surge over last Thursday’s take, with a running domestic cume of $89.4 million.
Sony’s animated feature “Planet 51” followed in seventh with $1.6 million from 3,035 and a first week take of $18.3 million.
Fox’s expansion of Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” from four locales to 2,027 catapulted the stop-motion film into eighth with $1.35 million yesterday. Pic took in $1.1 million during its first day of going wide on Wednesday. Heading into its third frame, “Mr. Fox” counts a domestic B.O. of $3 million.
Lionsgate’s “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” slotted ninth with $1.29 million from 663, repping a two-fold plus surge from a week ago with a running domestic take at the end of its third week of $24.3 million.
Overture Films’ “The Men Who Stare at Goats” drew an estimated $369,300 in tenth off 1,119, down 11% from a week ago, and a total B.O. going into its fourth frame of $28.7 million.
Weinstein Co.’s limited release of the big-screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” generated an estimated $481,000 in its first two days of release from 111 engagements. Exit surveys are looking good for the film.
Disney’s exclusive run of its hand-drawn animated “The Princess and the Frog” at the Ziegfeld in New York and the Walt Disney Studios main theater totaled $430,770 since its Wednesday bow.
