Big surprise. The cute puppy dog flick, “Marley And Me” starring, beige milquetoast actors Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson topped the box office this extended, four-day holiday weekend with an estimated $51.7 million. ‘Marley’ opened on Thursday, and earned $14.7 million — a new Christmas Day record that bested the 2001 record held by Michael Mann/Will Smith’s “Ali.”
‘Benjamin Button’ surprised with a total of $39 million for the four days, which is a fantastic number for a film that’s 2 and 3/4 hours, but more populist fare like Jim Carrey’s “Yes Man,” and “Seven Pounds” outdid the David Fincher film in the 4-day weekend (but not the regular 3-day weekend). But let’s face it, the total is what everyone’s looking at. We’ll update this post when the final top 10 numbers come in.
Estimated 4-Day Weekend Totals
1. Marley and Me $37,000,000 ($51,675,000 – 4 Day Opening Weekend Total)
2. Bedtime Stories $28,069,000 ($38,598,000 – 4 Day Opening Weekend Total)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button $27,000,000 ($39,008,000 – 4 Day Opening Weekend Total)
4. Valkyrie $21,531,000 ($30,024,000 – 4 Day Opening Weekend Total)
5. Yes Man $16,450,000
6 . Seven Pounds $13,400,000
7. The Tale of Despereaux $9,368,000
8. The Day the Earth Stood Still $7,900,000
9. The Spirit $6,510,000 ($10,352,000 – 4 Day Opening Weekend Total)
10. Doubt $5,675,000
Variety has the specialty details.
“Doubt” came in No. 10 for the three day weekend as it expanded to 1,267 screens in its third weekend, grossing an estimated $7 million. Cume is $8.9 million.“Slumdog” grew its cume to an impressive $19.7 million in its seventh sesh, grossing an estimated $5.8 million over the four-day holiday weekend.Warner’s “Gran Torino” also continued to prosper, grossing an estimated $3.2 million from 84 locations for a cume of $4.3 million in its third weekend. Per screen average for the three days was an impressive $29,048, the best of the sesh after “Revolutionary Road.”
Frank Miller didn’t have the greatest Christmas.”The Spirit,” opened at No. 9 with $6.5 million for the weekend and a pretty lousy $10.4 million for the four-day period.