Weekend Box Office (November 30 - December 2, 2007)

by Sujit Chawla

THIS WEEKEND The post-Thanksgiving doldrums hit the moviegoing audience as, much like 2006, the top three films remained the same from last weekend. Enchanted held on to first place, while the new thriller Awake opened dismally in fifth.

Disney scored back-to-back number one weekends with the animated/live-action hybrid Enchanted which dropped by 52% from last weekend's opening and took in $16.4M, according to final studio figures. Last year's post-Thanksgiving champ, Happy Feet dropped 53% in its third weekend, while Enchanted was in its second weekend. Its total now stands at $70M. Look for Princess Giselle and company to play strong through the holidays, eventually ending up in the $140-150M range.

Second and third places flip flopped from last week as the CGI-fest Beowulf wrangled $8.2M this weekend. Its total now stands at $68.9M. In third place was the surprising This Christmas which dropped 56% to $7.9M bringing its cume to $36.4M. Look for a final gross in the area of $60M, making the Sony release highly profitable.

Waking up sleeping moviegoers in fifth place was the thriller Awake starring Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba. The MGM/Weinstein release scared up $5.9M this weekend, for a per screen average of just $2,926. With poor reviews, expect a quick trip through the theatrical window and a DVD release early next year.

Landing in fourth place was the videogame-turned-film Hitman which shot up $6M this weekend bringing its cume after two weekends to $30.4M. Look for a final gross in the $45-50M range. Sixth and seventh places were identical to last weekend as Warner Bros. stablemates Fred Claus and August Rush each dropped less than 50% from last weekend. Santa's annoying brother took in $5.5M bringing its cume to $59.8M, while the musical drama brought in $5M bringing its total to $20.2M.

MGM's horror flick The Mist fell 49% to $4.6M pushing the 12-day total to $19.6M. Ninth place was snatched up by a busy bee as Jerry Seinfeld's animated alter ego Bee Movie buzzed audiences with another $4.4M this weekend. Its 62% drop from last weekend was the biggest in the top 10 and its cume now stands at $117.6M. Oscar hopeful No Country For Old Men zoomed up to tenth place this weekend with the lowest drop in the top 10. The Coen Brothers crime thriller took in $4.4M bringing its total to a solid $22.9M while still playing in less than 1,000 theaters. Watch the grosses grow as we start heading into awards season.

Debuting outside the top 10 were a couple of more award hopefuls in The Savages and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Savages, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, took in $151,859 from only 4 theaters for a per screen average of $37,964. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which tells the story of a man whose only method of communication is blinking his left eyelid, took in $75,721 from 3 theaters for a per screen average of $25,240.

The top 10 grossed $68.3M this weekend, which was down 11% from 2006 when Happy Feet remained at number one with $17.5M, and down 7% from 2005 when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire also remained on top, with $19.8M.

Compared to projections, Gitesh was right on target with his $6M prediction for Awake.

For a review of Nina's Heavenly Delights and NEW DVD reviews of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Namesake, and Hot Rod, visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when The Golden Compass attacks theaters.

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# Title Nov 30 - Dec 2 Nov 23 - 25 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Enchanted $ 16,403,316 $ 34,440,317 -52.4 3,730 2 $ 4,398 $ 70,000,316 Buena Vista
2 Beowulf 8,208,565 16,538,666 -50.4 3,249 3 2,526 68,939,986 Paramount
3 This Christmas 7,941,068 17,958,183 -55.8 1,858 2 4,274 36,431,987 Sony
4 Hitman 6,021,927 13,180,769 -54.3 2,468 2 2,440 30,426,328 Fox
5 Awake 5,856,872 2,002 1 2,926 5,856,872 MGM
6 Fred Claus 5,501,437 10,575,400 -48.0 3,420 4 1,609 59,784,054 Warner Bros.
7 August Rush 5,021,435 9,421,369 -46.7 2,310 2 2,174 20,225,907 Warner Bros.
8 The Mist 4,553,008 8,931,973 -49.0 2,423 2 1,879 19,563,276 MGM
9 Bee Movie 4,444,798 11,813,502 -62.4 3,150 5 1,411 117,616,494 Paramount
10 No Country For Old Men 4,385,290 7,776,773 -43.6 995 4 4,407 22,914,851 Miramax
11 American Gangster 4,263,175 9,013,925 -52.7 2,699 5 1,580 121,716,990 Universal
12 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium 3,261,068 7,936,035 -58.9 2,860 3 1,140 26,332,620 Fox
13 Dan in Real Life 1,667,110 3,016,800 -44.7 1,505 6 1,108 44,384,436 Buena Vista
14 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 767,087 930,080 -17.5 302 6 2,540 4,453,971 ThinkFilm
15 I'm Not There 495,397 730,819 -32.2 138 2 3,590 1,702,145 Weinstein Co.
16 Into the Wild 450,918 708,069 -36.3 362 11 1,246 15,654,395 Par. Vantage
17 Bella 426,764 736,513 -42.1 435 6 981 6,794,997 Roadside Attr.
18 Lions For Lambs 401,039 1,163,124 -65.5 82 4 4,891 14,510,141 MGM
19 Love in the Time of Cholera 394,585 966,983 -59.2 370 3 1,066 4,191,688 New Line
20 Gone Baby Gone 387,282 424,016 -8.7 404 7 959 19,598,858 Miramax
Top 5 $ 44,431,748 $ 93,931,437 -52.7
Top 10 68,337,716 139,810,139 -51.1
Top 20 80,852,141 156,801,538 -48.4
Top 20 vs. 2006 80,852,141 89,685,225 -9.8

Last Updated: December 3, 2007 at 6:30PM ET

Watch Gitesh Pandya's weekly box office preview on CNN International airing live each Friday at 9:50am ET.