With the annual post-Thanksgiving multiplex malaise setting in and just one big new movie (Punisher: War Zone, which I'll get to later ... uh, much later) in theaters, the box office results remarkably resembled those of a week ago.
Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn star in "Four Christmases," which stayed at No. 1.
So, yep, you guessed it: Four Christmases was No. 1 with $18.2 million, according to Sunday's estimates.
That brings the holiday comedy's two-week sum to a sweet $70.8 million -- and it restores my confidence in Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon as box office draws. For now, at least.
The rest of the top five is comprised of the same movies we've been seeing for a while now.
Twilight moved back up to the No. 2 spot with a tidy $13.2 million haul; its three-week sum is $138.6 million. Bolt (No. 3) followed with $9.7 million, a huge and surprising 64 percent decline from its impressive Thanksgiving weekend sum.
Australia declined 53 percent to bank $7 million at No. 4. And Quantum of Solace (No. 5) grossed $6.6 million and crossed the $500 million mark worldwide.
Among major new releases, the biggest was hardly the baddest: Punisher: War Zone (No. 8) grossed a mere $4 million in 2,508 theaters, a tally that's way off from the $13.8 million that The Punisher premiered with in 2004. More punishment: The Marvel franchise reboot failed to defeat even last week's action disappointment, Transporter 3 which was No. 7 with $4.5 million. Ouch!
Meanwhile, the other sorta-substantial new movie, Cadillac Records (No. 9), fared a bit better, bringing in a decent $3.5 million in 686 locations. But the indie drama Nobel Son failed to take any prize (except, perhaps, that of Box Office Flop of the Week), grossing just $370,575 in 893 venues -- a redonkulously low average of $415 per theater.
Nay, the only real news of note came in the ultra-limited-release sphere, where the buzzy drama Frost/Nixon debuted with a tremendous $60,049 average in three theaters in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. The Oscar contender will roll out wider in the coming weeks.
Overall, the slow box office was actually up more than 6 percent from the same, even slower frame a year ago, when The Golden Compass produced disappointing returns.
That makes this the fifth straight "up" weekend of the fall season, and all things considered, it should be enough to spread some holiday cheer in Hollywood.
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