Jacob Hall
There's no use beating around the bush here -- this was a pretty dull weekend at the box office. There was only one new release, but it was a dump that bombed rather spectacularly and the rest of the line-up is essentially the same as last week, with only a few titles shuffling around. It's the the quiet before the storm...the storm being 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,' which opens in a few days.
Anyone who follows the box office will look upon this weekend's results and feel strong pangs of deja vu. Isn't this the same thing as las week?! Pretty much, yeah. The vast majority of the top ten stayed in the same position as last weekend thanks to an incredibly weak crop of new releases, making these some of the strangest box office numbers seen in 2012.
Many Americans found themselves with four days off last week, ostensibly so they could go see their family and eat turkey and celebrate Thanksgiving from the comfort of their homes. Instead, they went to the movies. In fact, this was the biggest Thanksgiving box office of all time. Congratulations, America!
As expected, the fifth and final film of the 'Twilight' series opened huge. In fact, 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2' had the second biggest opening of the franchise and when you consider how huge these things tend to open, that's a big accomplishment. However, this was not just a victorious weekend for Twi-hards -- just about every film in the top ten had something to cheer about.
It was a given: 'Skyfall' was going to win the weekend no matter what. What wasn't a given was 'Skyfall' shattering the opening weekend record for its franchise and positioning itself to become the most successful film in history of the James Bond films. 007 is back and after 50 years, he's showing no signs of slowing down.
Whoever first pitched 'Wreck-It Ralph' certainly got a nice big bonus check from Disney today. A cute hook that appeals to adults and kids + positive reviews = one of the biggest openings in weeks. And hey! 'Flight' didn't do too shabby either! Wait...are this good box office numbers? Does this mean the holiday movie season has officially arrived? Yes. Yes it has.
There is really only one way to describe the opening weekend for 'Cloud Atlas' and 'Silent Hill: Revelation' and that word is "Ouch." But they weren't alone: this was a bad week for just about every movie not called 'Argo.'
Another Halloween, another 'Paranormal Activity.' Another 'Paranormal Activity,' another large opening weekend. But all is not well in the state of Denmark (and by Denmark, we mean "the 'Paranormal Activity' franchise"): the fourth film in the series opened to significantly less than the previous entries.
'Taken' was the surprise hit of 2009, a January dump that inexplicably made nearly $150 million in the United States and transformed Liam Neeson into an instant action star. Three years later, 'Taken 2' has arrived in theaters on a primo release date and with an advertising campaign that probably cost more than the entire first movie. Well, it looks like the hype was worth it. The first film may have been a sleeper, but the second adventure of Liam Neeson's kidnap-prone family has opened like a true blockbuster.
After a few painful weeks, it looks like the box office has finally found its legs again. The combined power of 'Hotel Transylvania' and 'Looper' announced the end of the post-Summer doldrums and the start of the true Fall movie season. Sony, who distributed both films, must be the happiest studio in town right now.