Sunday Update
The race for the top spot over the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend became more competitive on Saturday as the animated comedy Hoodwinked more than doubled its Friday take to edge out all other films in the marketplace. The basketball drama Glory Road and the comedy Last Holiday were close behind making it a tight three-way race for number one over the long four-day frame. Because of the holiday, only some distributors released official three-day estimates on Sunday. All will report official four-day estimates on Monday.
The Weinstein Company watched its first animated film Hoodwinked surge by 103% on Saturday, its second day of release, grossing an estimated $5.5M to swipe the number one spot for the day. Kidpics normally experience a stellar Friday-to-Saturday jump since parents and children have more available time on the weekend, however good word-of-mouth may also be kicking in. Over the three-day Friday-to-Sunday span, Hoodwinked looks to reach the neighborhood of $12M.
Disney's Glory Road and Paramount's Last Holiday were both right behind the toon with an estimated $5.4M each. The college hoops flick rose 21% from Friday while the Queen Latifah comedy witnessed a stronger 43% climb. Both distributors reported official three-day estimates with Glory Road collecting an estimated $13.5M while Last Holiday followed close behind with an estimated $13M. Glory could have enough of a lead to win the long four-day weekend by a slim margin. Holiday looks to be in a tight fight for the weekend's runnerup spot since kidpics like Hoodwinked typically see a stronger benefit from a Monday school holiday.
In fourth place on Saturday was Disney's juggernaut The Chronicles of Narnia with an estimated $4.4M, up a healthy 89% from Friday. The official three-day gross that the studio reported was an estimated $10.1M.
Last weekened's number one film Hostel and the Jim Carrey comedy Fun With Dick and Jane both grossed an estimated $3.8M on Saturday with the horror entry rising 18% from Friday and the laugher jumping 46%. Three-day grosses this weekend might approach the area of $9.5M for Hostel and $9M for Dick.
Universal's King Kong enjoyed a healthy 83% jump on Saturday to an estimated $3.3M. The studio reported a three-day estimate of $7.3M. Overseas, the Peter Jackson adventure propelled its cume to $296M putting the worldwide tally at $498.8M. The studio expects Kong to smash through the half-billion mark on Monday.
Fox's freshman flick Tristan & Isolde grossed an estimated $2.4M on Saturday and was the only film in the top ten to decline from Friday dipping 5%. The period romance could see itself with around $6.5M over the Friday-to-Sunday span.
Awards front-runner Brokeback Mountain collected an estimated $2.3M on Saturday, up 48% from the previous day. The three-day gross should reach roughly $5.6M. Also taking in an estimated $2.3M on Saturday was Fox's Cheaper by the Dozen 2 which doubled its gross from Friday. The family film looks to grab about $5M over three days. Universal's revenge thriller Munich grossed an estimated $2.2M on Saturday, up 53% from Friday, with the studio reporting a three-day estimate of $4.9M.
Overall, the top ten films should gross about $90M over the Friday-to-Sunday period. Last year, Coach Carter led the MLK weekend with a powerful three-day launch of $24.2M powering the top ten to $112.1M.
For a NEW review of Last Holiday visit The Chief Report. Visit the Top 20 chart of top-grossing films from 2005.
Be sure to check the Golden Globe chart which tracks the box office of the major nominees with weekly updates throughout awards season.
Last Updated: January 15, 2006 at 1:45PM EST
Written by Gitesh Pandya