Skyfall seized the top spot at theaters in an admittedly slow weekend. The most successful James Bond film of all time has held strong since its release nearly a month ago and once again became the biggest movie in America with $11 million in tickets sold. The fact that this is the biggest Bond movie of all time isn't nearly as shocking as the margin of separation between Skyfall and the other recent Bond entries. Worldwide, the final difference between Skyfall and Casino Royale could be $400 million dollars. That is a staggering number. I'm be lying if I said I understood the recipe for success here. I have no earthly idea why Skyfall will outperform Royale and Quantum of Solace by nearly half a billion dollars. All I can say is, lock Mendes down for another one, fast. The family friendly under performer Rise of the Guardians ended up in second place with $10 million in ticket sales. Even mediocre holiday films can end up hanging around. Though I have a feeling The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is going to take what little thunder Guardians has left. These harmless little animated movies wouldn't be so disappointing if they didn't cost $150 million to produce.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 continues to wind down earning another $9.1 million. When the final tally is taken, Skyfall may end up winning the box office battle here in the United States. That is something nobody saw coming. And frankly, it's a little encouraging.
Spielberg's Lincoln holds strong in fourth place with $9 million in ticket sales continuing its loud march into award season. At this point, Lincoln and Argo will both be $100+ million earners when the major award nominations start being made. Robert Zemeckis' Flight is also slowly making it's way to the $100 million mark (right now at $86 million and holding strong at the bottom half of the top ten) The respectable box office is helping these films stake a claim in what should be a pretty interesting award season. Speaking of...
On this side of the pond, the major speculation is that Zero Dark Thirty will be the film to beat, with a very vocal minority claiming the musical Les Miserables will be a sentimental favorite with voters. If I were a gambling man (and I am), these are the films I'm guessing will get Best Picture nominations:
Argo
Lincoln
Flight
Zero Dark Thirty
Les Miserables
Silver Lining Playbook
Moonrise Kingdom
and my dark horse pick:
Beasts of the Southern Wild
There's always one low budget sentimental favorite that makes its way into the Best Picture category. While it didn't set the box office on fire in its limited release, Beasts of the Southern Wild has a lot of supporters.
Playing for Keeps on the other hand had no supporters and a 2% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Only Leonard Maltin found anything favorable to say about the Gerrard Butler romantic comedy which left audiences ambivalent. The film couldn't even crack the top five earning a measly $6 million in its opening weekend. Not even enough to beat Life of Pi which took in $8 million, which was good enough for the number five spot.
Next week sees the release of the most anticipated film of the holiday season: Amour - the unsentimental look at an octogenarian who suffers a stroke putting their relationship in jeopardy. Oh, and there's this other film opening up by a guy from New Zealand named Peter Jackson who has adapted this book by J.R.R. Tolkien called The Hobbit. Apparently it's a fantasy film. I'm not really sure if anyone's interested. I guess we'll find out next week.
Here's your top films for North America...
1. Skyfall
Weekend Estimate: $11 million; $261 million total
2. Rise of the Guardians
Weekend Estimate: $10 million; $61 million total
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
Weekend Estimate: $9.1 million; $268 million total
4. Lincoln
Weekend Estimate: $9 million; $97 million total
5. Life of Pi
Weekend Estimate: $8 million; $60 million total
Anghus Houvouras
