As well as a long, five-day Thanksgiving weekend of turkey excess, shopping mayhem and over-eating recovery, America has been to the movies. And what did US moviegoers flock to see? Why, that would be something produced by Disney that surprisingly doesn’t also carry the Pixar name.
Enchanted scored big over the weekend, with the fantasy adventure signalling a real success for the studio alongside what could be a truly star-making turn for Amy Adams, who is winning raves as princess Giselle, trapped in New York by an evil queen (Susan Sarandon). The movie made $35.3 million from Friday to Saturday alone, and thanks to a Wednesday opening, is already up to a healthy $50 million. The sequel’s green light must surely be flashing even as we write this…
Also performing well – despite opening in 1,900 fewer cinemas - was Sony’s This Christmas, with the likes of Regina King nabbing $27 million across the extended release period. That meant Beowulf took a tumble down to third, making $16.2 million and bringing its coffer level up to $56.3 million.
Fourth place went to the week’s third new opening, Hitman. The video game adaptation fizzled with critics and failed to hit the target with most audiences, making just $21 million, with $13 million of that across the weekend. Not awful, then, but hardly a blockbuster and likely to fall quickly next week.
Bee Movie flew down to fifth, adding $12 million to increase its total to an impressive $112 million, while Fred Claus slid down the chimney to sixth, with $53 million currently in the sack.
Seventh place found the fourth new film, the hugely underwhelming August Rush vilified by most critics (including us) for its saccharine sweetness, the music-laden movie could only muster $9.4 million this weekend and a $13.3 million total.
Taking a fall was American Gangster, which slipped from third to eighth, adding $9.2 million to its running total of $115.7 million. And if August Rush’s producers had reason to be less than thrilled, consider poor Frank Darabont – The Mist rolled into more than 2,400 cinemas and could only attract $9 million for the weekend and $13 million in total. And finally, at 10th, No Country For Old Men had more success opening wider and taking $8.1 million for the weekend.
