DISNEY - MOVIEGOERS OPEN TREASURE BOX

MOVIEGOERS OPEN TREASURE BOX

Without the distraction of last-minute Christmas shopping and family get-togethers, moviegoers returned to the theaters over the weekend to see the movies that they may have missed over last weekend's holiday. (No new movies opened wide.) The result was a second big weekend for Disney's National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which declined just 20 percent, to take in an estimated $35.6 million, bringing its 10-day total to $124 million. Surprisingly 20th Century Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks pushed ahead of Warner Bros.' I Am Legend for second place with $30 million in ticket sales. Legend placed third with $27.5 million, bringing its total to $194.6 million and putting it on track to cross the $200-million mark today (Monday), as moviegoers return to theaters on New Year's eve. Charlie Wilson's War came in fourth with an estimated gross of $11.8 million. The film, which stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and was directed by Mike Nichols, has been making steady progress since opening slowly last week. Widening its release to 998 theaters, Fox Searchlight's Juno placed fifth with $10.3 million, giving it a per-theater average of $10,321, a figure that exceeds the $9,290 per-theater average of Treasure. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the critically hailed There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, took in $185,525 in just two theaters -- that's $92,763 per theater. On the other hand, The Golden Compass and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story fell out of the top ten faster than most analysts had thought possible.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers:
1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $35.6 million; 2. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $30 million; 3. I Am Legend, $27.5 million; 4. Charlie Wilson's War, $11.8 million; 5. Juno, $10.3 million; 6. Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem, $10.05 million; 7. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, $9.2 million; 8. P.S. I Love You, $9.1 million; 9. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, $8 million; 10. Enchanted, $6.5 million.

31/12/2007