We've finally got a new #1 and #2.

Friday's Estimates

1. APOCALYPTO $4,950,000
2. THE HOLIDAY $4,400,000
3. HAPPY FEET $3,075,000
4. BLOOD DIAMOND $2,675,000
5. CASINO ROYALE $2,635,000
6. DEJA VU $1,825,000
7. UNACCOMPANIED MINORS $1,550,000
8. THE NATIVITY STORY $1,450,000
9. DECK THE HALLS $1,020,000
10. BORAT $790,000

I figured Blood Diamond would have opened higher, but it was released in fewer theaters than any of the other wide new releases.

the movie guy on E! (ben lyons) was talking trash about, but i still want to go. i figured mel's film would still open strong even after the drunken incident.

I have to say I'm surprised about APOCALYPTO. Subtitled films about Mayans? If Mel Gibson didn't make it, it sounds like an arthouse film that wouldn't even get a wide release and most people wouldn't care about.

Borat is still in the top ten. Way to fucking go, Sasha Baron Cohen. I'm glad you finally made your impact.

-JP

Keep in mind Christians who saw THE PASSION are going just to supprot Mel Gibson and also the huge Mexican population is going also goin to see APOCALYPTO.

the Christians that i work with all sworn him off after the drunken incident, just like they swore off tom cruise for "taking advantage of" katie....

Keep in mind Christians who saw THE PASSION are going just to supprot Mel Gibson and also the huge Mexican population is going also goin to see APOCALYPTO.

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Insert obvious joke here: "Which won't be reflected in the box office if they choose to go to a drive-in!"

badump dump.

You're right on that one.

Saturday:

1. HAPPY FEET WARNER BROS. 3,650 6,088,000 1,668 -25% 134,190,000
2. APOCALYTPO MGM 2,465 5,724,000 2,322 n/a 10,594,000
3. HOLIDAY, THE PARAMOUNT 2,610 5,200,000 1,992 n/a 9,605,000
4. CASINO ROYALE SONY 3,161 4,132,000 1,307 -38% 126,905,000
5. BLOOD DIAMOND WARNER BROS. 1,910 3,650,000 1,911 n/a 6,345,000
6. UNACCOMPANIED MINORS WARNER BROS. 2,774 2,761,000 995 n/a 4,341,000
7. DEJA VU BVI 2,742 2,757,000 1,005 -45% 51,625,000
8. NATIVITY STORY, THE NEW LINE 3,083 2,196,000 712 -20% 13,955,000
9. DECK THE HALLS 20TH CENTURY FOX 2,766 1,905,000 689 -39% 29,156,000
10. SANT CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE BVI 1,594 1,545,000 969 -33% 76,245,000

I'm pretty sure you can say that about most films (replacing Mel Gibson with another Producer/Director)

Weekend Estimates:

1 N Apocalypto BV $14,166,000 - 2,465 - $5,746 $14,166,000 $40 1
2 N The Holiday Sony $13,500,000 - 2,610 +1,810 $5,172 $13,500,000 $85 1
3 1 Happy Feet WB $12,718,000 -27.5% 3,650 -154 $3,484 $137,738,000 $100 4
4 2 Casino Royale Sony $8,800,000 -41.8% 3,161 -225 $2,783 $128,894,000 $150 4
5 N Blood Diamond WB $8,515,000 - 1,910 +1,205 $4,458 $8,515,000 - 1
6 N Unaccompanied Minors WB $6,205,000 - 2,775 - $2,236 $6,205,000 $25 1
7 3 Deja Vu BV $6,070,000 -44.6% 2,742 -366 $2,213 $53,046,000 $75 3
8 4 The Nativity Story NL $5,350,000 -31.8% 3,083 -100 $1,735 $15,500,000 $35 2
9 5 Deck the Halls Fox $3,925,000 -41.2% 2,766 -439 $1,419 $30,076,000 - 3
10 6 The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause BV $3,311,000 -32.3% 2,226 -391 $1,487 $77,240,000 - 6
11 7 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Fox $2,565,000 -46.0% 1,594 -643 $1,609 $120,260,000 $18 6
12 9 Stranger Than Fiction Sony $1,500,000 -55.3% 1,266 -538 $1,184 $39,205,000 $30 5
13 8 Turistas FoxA $1,335,000 -62.7% 1,572 +2 $849 $5,875,000 $10 2

Say what you will about Mel Gibson, but he's still got some boxoffice mojo (no pun intended) working for him. I know they're not exactly the same kind of movie, but if I had seen the trailers for The Fountain and Apocalypto back to back without knowing anything about them, I would have thought The Fountain would be the bigger draw. The Fountain might not even make $14 Million all together.

That's not true at all. Christians who saw The Passion went because it was a film about Christ. To say that they'd all flock to see "Mad Max IV", or whatever, just because it had Gibson's name on it, is silly.

I consider myself pretty into Jesus, but I am cutting Mel some slack. Like others have said, he's human like the rest of us, he makes mistakes, he's apologized, get over it.

Christians that have "sworn him off" because of that need to maybe reevaluate their own lives...I'm sure some things they've/we've all done, if in the media, would make us all just as guilty.

I don't know about that. Very few people have real box office draw. I mean even Martin Scorsese hasn't exactly lit up the box office. I'd think very few people could really have enough pull to make a movie like Apocalypto successful (and a lot of people wouldn't. even try to make such a movie, i.e. Jerry Bruckheimer)

I'm not sure I buy any of this. I mean that's like saying all Democrats will support George Clooney or Ben Affleck. Why would Christians care about a Mayan film? Simply because the director is the same religion? And Mexicans? While some Mayans are from present day Mexico, the Mayans are more Central America. This isn't the Aztecs...

A $14 million opening from over 2400 theaters doesn't show me huge support.

considering it beat all other movies without controversy, i'd say it is support nonetheless, but even beyond support, people might just have wanted to see a kick-ass action movie (that is why i want to see it).

The reviews I've read on Christian sites have actually been quite negative.

Though it was number one, it was not exactly impressive. I'm sure the news will spin it both ways depending on how they want it to be portrayed. "#1 movie! Bigger than Braveheart!" This thing will probably top out at 50mill - neither a success or failure.

Does it seem like this weekend is really, really small?

I don't know if it was because 007 Feet's been doing so well or because there was no Narnia-sized blockbuster this weekend, but it seems underwhelming. Like a January B.O.

Thank you. I was hoping that someone would respond this way. It also bugs me when people automatically think that when someone speaks Spanish they are Mexican. The movie Apocalypto was filmed in the Mayan ruins in northern Guatemala. I've been there before and they are beautiful. They also filmed part of Star Wars there as well.

I have a feeling Eragon's going be big next weekend just because there's not really much else out there.

Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but isn't early December usually very soft.

This week last year was when Chronicles of Narnia opened at over $60 Million.