It’s a long way from the final weekend box office numbers, but box office reports for the two highly publicized Christmas day openers were great.
Les Miserables, debuting in 2,808 theaters, quickly claimed the top spot reflected by Fandango’s and MovieTickets predictions of huge sales online. The film became the #1 advance ticket-seller among all Christmas Day releases, surpassing previous record-holder Sherlock Holmes, in 2009. Les Miserables was expected around $10 million for its opening weekend but trumped that number by earning $15-$20 million instead.
Les Miserables has a strong cast of Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Russell Crowe, all of who can draw a pretty strong audience. Even though the film is performing well, its hard to determine where the film is going until after its first weekend run is complete.
Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained easy claimed the #2 spot with an estimated $10M-$13M. That number is close to being on track with Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards, but like Miserables, it’s hard to tell how well the film is doing without its first weekend behind it. The R-rated movie is playing in 3,010 theaters nationwide and in Canada.
Below is a list of the rest of the films out in theaters this week.
1. Les Misérables (Working Title/Universal) NEW [Runs 2,808]
Christmas Day $18.0M
2. Django Unchained (Sony/Weinstein) NEW [Runs 3,010]
Christmas Day $15.0M
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (MGM/WB) Week 2 [Runs 4,100]
Christmas Day $11.3M, Cume $168.3M
4. Parental Guidance (Chernin/Fox) NEW [Runs 3,358]
Christmas Day $6.4M
5. Jack Reacher (Skydance/Paramount) Week 1 [Runs 3,352]
Christmas Day $5.3M, Cume $23.2M
6. This Is 40 (Universal) Week 1 [Runs 2,913]
Christmas Day $4.4M, Cume $17.3M
8. The Guilt Trip (Skydance/Paramount) Week 1 [Runs 2,431]
Christmas Day $2.6M, Cume $11.0M
8. Lincoln (DreamWorks/Fox/Disney) Week 7 [Runs 1,966]
Christmas Day $2.3M, Cume $120.2M
9. Monsters Inc 3D (Pixar/Disney) Week 1 [Runs 2,618]
Christmas Day $1.4M, Cume $8.4M
10. Skyfall (MGM/Sony) Week 7 [Runs 1,637]
Christmas Day $1.3M, Cume $282.4M
