The extra long holiday weekend isn’t only good for getting you some time off from work or school, it’s also a fantastic opportunity for the movie industry to make a killing at the box office. As much as we’d like to spread the holiday cheer, we can’t give thanks to every film in the competition, so some will inevitably be left eating table scraps.
Now that the Wednesday numbers are in, that’s clearly not the case with last weekend’s big winner, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I. After a massive $125 million week one opening, the franchise’s seventh installment kicked off its second weekend strong with a $14.5 million Wednesday haul. Even though Tangled made its holiday debut with an impressive $11.8 million, it’ll be impossible for the 3D animated film to come anywhere close to Potter by the end of the weekend. Harry Potter is on its way to $80 million while Tangled is projected to earn $60 million.
In terms of the battle between the newcomers, Tangled is above and beyond the competition. Not only did it open stronger than Burlesque, Faster and Love and Other Drugs, but it’s also got a far higher value on HSX.com. Tangled is currently priced at an impressive $89.02 while the next highest valued film is Burlesque at $32.75. However, Harry Potter is raining on Tangled’s parade here as well with its whopping $231.29 value.
Even if none of the latest entries can compete with the powerhouse Potter, just about every film is on track to do quite well by the weekend’s end. Burlesque is heading towards an $18 million opening and Love and Other Drugs a $15.5 million start. Faster trails the competition earning just $1.6 million on Wednesday, on its way to a $12 million opening. Poor reviews could certainly be partially responsible for this weaker performance.
As for our old timers, both Unstoppable and Megamind are holding on quite strong. Unstoppable is on its way to a $14.5 million five-day weekend while Megamind could pull in an additional $13 million.
So what will the top ten look like by the weekend’s end? Here are our predictions:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
2. Tangled
3. Burlesque
4. Love and Other Drugs
5. Unstoppable
6. Megamind
7. Faster
8. Due Date
9. The Next Three Days
10. Morning Glory
Happy Thanksgiving from the Shockya team!
By Perri Nemiroff (via Box Office Mojo, HSX.com, The Wrap)
