The Weekend Report: November 29, 2009

It was the biggest Thanksgiving box office ever with last weekend’s leaders continuing to lead the way. Twilight: New Moon added an estimated $43.1 million to its burgeoning larder and The Blind Side was close behind with a $40.2 million tally for the three-day portion of the holiday carving.

The five-day frame generated revenues of close to $270 million that exceeded the prior record holder back in 2000 by 11%.

The session also had a couple of new national releases that did well but not bountiful biz. The family comedy Old Dogs ranked fourth with $16.8 million and the genre actioner Ninja Assassin was two notches behind with $13.2 million.

Platformers were also well in evidence with the two screen bow of the animated The Princess and the Frog croaking loud with $710,000, the apocalyptic The Road generating a heady $13,400 from 111 thruways and the bittersweet Me and Orson Welles raising Kane of $64,100 from four screens. There were also good returns of $330,000 for Bollywood freshman De Dana Dan.

Overall the weekend portion pushed to roughly $186 million that dipped 28% from last weekend record-setting frame. However it was 15% better than last year’s box office when the $31.1 million debut of Four Christmas topped the tree and second weekend’s of Bolt and Twilight fought it out with respective grosses of $26.6 million and $26.3 million.

New Moon continued to delightfully surprise as the film passed $200 million (and Twilight’s total domestic box office) in its eighth day in theaters. Pundits are frantically changing estimates for its eventual total and it now appears headed toward $325 million.

The Blind Side (along with several other family targeted movies) saw its weekend gross improve and finished the weekend with a $100 million plus cume. If New Moon is a surprise the race-themed film’s enthusiastic response lived up to its title for industry pundits.

With the first wave of awards giving just weeks away, expansions were much in evidence. Though Precious saw a slight box office decline, it remained a contender with theater averages still in the five-figure range. The prospects aren’t as bright for Fantastic Mr. Fox, which expanded to a national presence and a just OK $3,410 per engagement return.

Indies Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and The Messenger also added screens and each held their own. Still, the two films truly need ultimate critical validation to push to the next level in the New Year. A similar scenario applies to An Education but the surprisingly resilient Boondock Saints II continues to earn each new screen strictly on an approving fan base.

by Leonard Klady