Christmas Day Box Office Results
by 
Christmas is usually one of the busiest movie-going days of the year. That held true once again as huge numbers rolled in for multiple movies. The result could be the highest grossing weekend at the box office in history. Avatar may be on the way to matching or making more this weekend than it did last, and Sherlock Holmes blew by all industry expectations to battle for the top spot.
Sherlock Holmes came in #1 on Friday but whether it will finish there for the weekend is uncertain. The movie opened well above the $40-50 million weekend expectations which will catapult it to likely franchise status. It made $24.9 million on Friday alone which should push it towards about $70 million for the weekend.
Avatar is about to achieve something that few movies ever do. After making $23.3 million on Friday it should be able to finish the weekend with $75 million or more. That would represent a remarkably small drop from last weekend’s $77 million and the potential is still there for this weekend to actually outdo the last. With the full holiday week ahead and the incredible word-of-mouth which has been discussed at length the comparisons to Titanic are not as far reaching as they once seemed.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel pulled in $14.3 million on Christmas Day putting it right in line with expectations as it should settle at about $46 million for the weekend. It looks like a sure bet they’ll be developing a third movie now.
It’s Complicated opened somewhat stronger than anticipated. It was able to draw $7.2 million and should make about $22 million for the three days. This represents a solid opening for the film which faced a crowded marketplace and had limited appeal.
The expansion for Up in the Air was able to boost its box office take to $3.5 million and will take close to $12 million over the weekend. The movie should do well in coming weeks and through award season. It was not going to be a destination this weekend given the competition but should hold up strong.