Opening poorly in sixth was the romantic comedy The Perfect Holiday which grossed an estimated $3M from 1,307 locations. Averaging a dismal $2,269, the PG-rated film starring Queen Latifah, Terrence Howard, Gabrielle Union, and Morris Chestnut appealed mostly to the African American audience which was unavailable thanks to the drawing power of Will Smith. Holiday's total since its Wednesday bow is $3.6M.

A pair of Christmas comedies followed with an estimated $2.3M each. Vince Vaughn's Fred Claus dropped 50% and boosted its total to $69M for Warner Bros. Sony's This Christmas fell 54% and has banked an impressive $46M thus far which is more than triple its production cost.
 

The historical romance Atonement led all films with seven Golden Globe nominations and expanded into more theaters allowing it to pop into the top ten at number nine. Focus collected an estimated $1.9M for the Keira Knightley pic from just 117 sites for a potent $15,838 per theater. Cume sits at $3M and more markets will be added each week throughout the holiday season. Rounding out the top ten was August Rush with an estimated $1.8M, off 49%, for a $28.1M sum for Warner Bros.

Getting off to a solid start in limited release was the DreamWorks production The Kite Runner which Paramount Classics opened to an estimated $451,000 from 35 theaters for a strong $12,884 average. The controversial film was based on the best-selling novel of the same name and garnered two Golden Globe nominations including one for Best Foreign Language Film. Reviews were good but not spectacular, however audience reactions were very positive with 90% of those polled calling the film "excellent" or "very good." That could bode well for the expansion this Friday when The Kite Runner widens to 350 runs.

Fox Searchlight continued to see healthy results from its two arthouse offerings. The teen pregnancy comedy Juno expanded from seven to 40 sites and grossed an estimated $1.4M putting the quirky pic at number eleven nationwide despite its very limited play. The PG-13 film scored a trio of Globe nods for picture, actress, and screenplay and posted a sensational $36,000 average. The performance was similar to that of the distributor's dysfunctional family comedy Little Miss Sunshine which in its second weekend of limited release grossed $1.5M from 58 sites for a $25,521 average. A year ago, that film also earned Globe nods in the Comedy category for picture and actress before going on to become a major Oscar contender. Juno will expand to more than 200 theaters on Friday, then to over 850 runs on Christmas Day, and will reach 1,500+ playdates on January 4.

Three one-word-titled films tumbled out of the top ten over the weekend. Paramount's animated adventure Beowulf lost 70% of its audience and grossed an estimated $1.4M. With an impressive $79.2M from North America, the $150M production should go on to finish its domestic run with $80-82M. Overseas where Warner Bros. is releasing the epic tale, Beowulf smashed through the $100M mark boosting the global tally to $180M and counting.

Fox's stylish assassin pic Hitman also crumbled by 70% and took in an estimated $1M for a total to date of $38.2M. A decent final of about $40M seems likely. MGM's suspense thriller Awake grossed an estimated $1.1M, down 66%, leaving the pic with a dismal $13M cume. Look for a final of $14-15M.

The top ten films surged to an estimated $150.8M which was up a stunning 47% from last year when The Pursuit of Happyness opened at number one with $26.5M; and up a solid 26% from 2005 when King Kong debuted on top with $50.1M.

Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com