Weekend Box Office: Tangled Comes Within a Hair of Topping Potter

By Chris Kavan - 11/29/10 at 11:00 AM CT

It was a family affair at the box office over the holiday weekend, as the top three films were all family-friendly and newer adult fare failed to bring in bigger crowds.

Coming in at the top spot for the second straight weekend was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1. Potter and co. brought in another $50.3 million. Although it posted a steeper-than-average 60% drop from opening weekend, the 10-day total of $220.4 million is still the top-grossing showing out of all the Potter films to date. Impressive also that Potter did it all without the benefit of any 3D screens, although a hefty $5.7 million IMAX total did help.

Nipping at the heels of Potter was Disney's updated Rapunzel tale, Tangled, which brought in $49.1 million, beating almost all early estimates. With $69 million since opening the day before Thanksgiving, it represents Disney's best Thanksgiving opening since Toy Story 2 and is also Disney's best non-Pixar animated opening. 3D showings accounted for about 57% of that business, and it also brought in a hefty female audience as well.

Also getting the benefit of 3D, in the tune of 70% of business, in a distant 3rd place, was Megamind with $12.85 million. The animated film has now brought in $130.5 million since opening. Rounding out the top 5 was Unstoppable, with only a 10% drop, with $11.75 million for a $60.7 million total.

While there was quite the variety to choose from over new openings, the rest of the pack only opened to middling numbers. The musical Burlesque led the way in 4th place with $11.8 million weekend and $17.15 over Thanksgiving. Not surprisingly, 69% of the audience was female. The romantic comedy Love and Other Drugs was stuck on the low end of such films, bringing in $9.85 million for the weekend and $14 million over Thanksgiving, for a 6th-place showing.

Faster, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's foray back into action, managed only a 7th-place $8.7 million, $12.2 million Thanksgiving, opening. It trailed recent Thanksgiving action films including Transporter 3 and Hitman and was the worst opening for the actor.

In limited release, the critically-praised The King's Speech opened with the best per-theater average of the year: $87,500 on just four screens for $350,000 total. We'll see if the drama can score nation-wide in the coming weeks.

Despite the one-two punch of Potter and Tangled, the Thanksgiving total trailed last year's record haul when Twilight: New Moon and Blindside were in theaters.

Next week's openings include the action / fantasy / western The Warrior's Way, the long-gestating Jim Carrey comedy I Love You Phillip Morris and in limited locations Darren Aronofsky's ballet thriller with Natalie Portman, Black Swan. With no strong rivals, Potter should hold strong another week.