Twentieth Century Fox's comedy "Marley and Me" took the top spot at the Christmas box office weekend with an estimated $51.8 million.
The long Christmas weekend gave audiences plenty of new choices to go see – including “Marley and Me,” UA/MGM's Nazi drama "Valkyrie," Disney’s “Bedtime Stories,” Lionsgate's "The Spirit," and Paramount's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.
There was concern the weekend would be too crowded with new films for a holiday, but the weekend box office seems to reflect people wanted to get out and enjoy a good movie during Christmas.
The weekend saw the box office jump up more than 10% over last year’s holiday weekend – which featured "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "I Am Legend."
"Marley" stars Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson and is based on the memoir about a family dog. The film not only took the top spot at the weekend box office, but also claimed the best Christmas Day opening ever. The film is on track to break the $100 million mark next weekend.
In Variety, Fox senior VP of distribution Bert Livingston stated: "This is a movie about life and love and family. That's what people want to see. People from ages 8 to 80 came."
"Button" took the No. 2 spot during the four-day weekend with an estimated $39 million from 2,988 screens.
Disney's family comedy "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler took the No. 3 spot at the weekend box office with an estimated $38.6 million.
Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie" with Tom Cruise took the No. 4 spot at the weekend box office with an estimated $30 million from 2,711 screens.
"Valkyrie" took two years to get to the screen and had to overcome several roadblocks along the way. The film was advertised as an adult thriller, and played well to the male audience (which made up 55% of ticket sales).
In Variety, MGM prexy of distribution Erik Loomis stated: "This film had a lot of obstacles to overcome, since it got a lot of bad press. Bryan and Tom worked so hard; I've never seen someone work as hard as Tom did on this movie. The marketing team was fantastic, and the opening exceeded our expectations."
Warner Bros.' comedy "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey took the No. 5 spot with an estimated $22.4 million. The film has earned $50 million since it was released and only dropped 10% during the holiday weekend.
The Will Smith drama “Seven Pounds” took the No. 6 spot with an estimated $13.4 million. The Sony film has had a quiet run for a Will Smith flick and has earned $29 million since it was released.
Universal’s family animated film "The Tale of Despereaux" took the No. 7 spot at the weekend box office with an estimated $11.4 million. The film dropped 7% in its second weekend and has earned an estimated $28 million since its release.
Lionsgate's new film "The Spirit" (which was directed by Frank Miller) took the No. 9 spot at the weekend box office with an estimated $10.4 million.
The poor turnout for “The Spirit” is being placed on "Valkyrie" taking some of the film’s targeted audience. Lionsgate (who had hoped for a larger weekend opening) produced and financed the superhero flick with Odd Lot Entertainment.
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