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‘Killing’ Debuts Softy, ‘Twilight’ Three-Peats

After a record breaking Thanksgiving frame, the usual post-holiday lull began with both wide newcomers failing to gross more than $7 million, allowing the last installment in the Twilight saga to remain on top for a third week. 

Continuing to drop nearly identically to its predecessor, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 took in another $17.4 million in its third week for a domestic tally of $246.6 million. That’s a bit ahead of Breaking Dawn - Part 1 and a notch below New Moon.

Overseas, the blockbuster upped its cume to $447.8 million and is now at $702.4 million globally which puts it only a few million below the current series record of $712.2 million held by Part 1. With gas still in the tank on both sides of the pond, the series conclusion will certainly be the financial champ of the bunch. 

Holding up very well after its slim dip over turkey weekend, Skyfall added $16.6 million to its impressive North American tally and now stands at $245.6 million and a massive $868 million worldwide. 

Now the highest-grossing spy film of all time Stateside, James Bond’s latest outing is also the top-grossing movie of all time in the U.K. and is on its way to well over $900 million globally. With the holidays approaching, 007 has a slim shot of crossing $300 million domestically, though $280 million-plus is a given. 

The Top 10 

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 - $17.4M (weekend)…$254.6M (gross)
2. Skyfall - $16.6M…$245.6M
3. Rise of the Guardians - $13.4M…$48.4M
4. Lincoln - $13.4…$83.6M
5. Life of Pi - $12.2M…$48.5M
6. Wreck-It Ralph - $6.9M…$158.2M
7. Killing Them Softly - $6.8M…$6.8M
8. Red Dawn - $6.5M…$31.2M
9. Flight - $4.5M…$81.5M
10. The Collection - $3.1M…$3.1M

 

Unimpressive in seventh was Brad Pitt’s gangster drama Killing Them Softly, which managed just $6.8 million making it the A-Lister’s 21st “best” opening (a.k.a. his fourth worst over 26 wide releases). 

Considering the dense subject matter and release window, this debut isn’t terrible, but its F CinemaScore (a rating matched only by The Devil Inside for 2012) indicates a quick departure from theaters. 

In tenth, The Collection (a sequel to 2009’s The Collector) essentially matched its predecessor with a $3.1 million start. Again, all things considering, it’s not a disastrous start though it is thoroughly unremarkable. 

And in milestone news, after eight weeks in theaters, Ben Affleck’s Argo crossed $100 million and is the first awards contender so far to do so. 

Next week a sole new release is dumped into theaters with Playing for Keeps starring Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman and Catherine Zeta-Jones. With The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey looming, watch audiences hoard their money and ignore theaters save for some of the acclaimed holdovers. 

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