By Chris Kavan - 12/09/12 at 09:28 PM CT
Although the movies may have switched a few places - the top five once again looked oh so familiar to those who have seen the box office over the past four weeks. While the winners keep on winning - the only new wide-release film couldn't attract an audience and couldn't even manage a top five debut.
1) SKYFALL
Skyfall becomes the first film since 2010's How to Train Your Dragon to take the #1 spot in its fifth week of release. On the cusp of breaking the $1 billion mark worldwide, Skyfall added $11 million (down 34%) to bring its domestic total to $261.6 million and will soon pass the total of The Amazing Spider-Man's $262 million to become the biggest hit for Sony in five years. It might fall short of the $300 million mark - but it should be pretty close to the mark when it's over.
2) RISE OF THE GUARDIANS
Probably due to the holiday theme, the animated film had the lowest drop in audience for any film in the top 10 (down just 21.3%) and took in $10.54 million in its third weekend. Still, the Dreamworks animated film has only earned $61.9 million since opening and a $100 million finish is now clearly out of the picture. Despite holding onto an audience, that audience just isn't enough to make this a success.
3) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 2
After coming in first last week, the final installment in the popular franchise dipped to third in its fourth week, taking in $9.2 million for a new total of $268.7 million. It is now tracking ahead of New Moon (by $1.4 million) through the same time frame, though the 47.2% hit it took was the second largest out of the top 10 films this week. Will it be able to match the $300 million of Eclipse? It might fall just short, but Twilight should still go out with a bang.
4) LINCOLN
Off just 32% from last weekend, Steven Spielberg's historical drama has another solid week with $9.1 million just behind Twilight. Also in its fifth week, the film has taken in $97.3 million and will cross the $100 million mark and should also be able to top the total for Argo (currently at $103.1 million) to become the highest grossing film for those in serious Oscar contention.
5) LIFE OF PI
Holding steady in the fifth place position, Ang Lee's Life of Pi was down 31.7%, taking in $8.3 million to raise its total to $60.9 million over three weeks. It was released at the same time as Guardians and only trails it by $1 million. It will be interesting to see if the visually-attractive Pi can ultimately outgross the animated underperformer..
Out side the top five, as stated the Gerard Butler romantic comedy/drama film Playing for Keeps wound up with a terrible 6th place finish with just $6 million. Butler can't be happy, as his last film, Chasing Mavericks, was also a flop - grossing just $5.8 million in its entire run. It's been a hard sell for romantic comedies this year, with April's Think Like a Man's $91.5 million really being the only true standout this year. The Silver Linings Playbook still has a chance to impress - though it's had to be content with its limited theatrical run for four weeks now.
Also of note, Killing Them Softy took the biggest it of the week after its soft opening, plummeting a massive 59.7% to just $2.74 million and dropping to 10th. The F cinemascore it received was taken to heart, and, standing at just $11.77 million, if you haven't seen it yet, chances are you're not going to have much more time to enjoy it as it should beat a hasty exit out of theaters.
Next week, no films are going to attempt to fight The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the only new wide-release film. After a few starts and stops, Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth should work its magic on the box office - the big question is how it will compare to The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers and The Hunger Games in terms of opening. I, for one, will be there opening night, so you won't have to wait long for my opinion.
