Sherlock Holmes Is No. 1 at US Weekend B-O

DEC 19, 2011 - While franchise titles did claim the top three spots at the Norh American box-office this weekend, it wound up being a very mixed frame for sequels. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 both tallied solid grosses, though they were notably down from their predecessors. On the other hand, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol had a robust start in limited release. Even with all of these established brands entering the marketplace, the Top 12 wound up down roughly 13 percent from the same period last year.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opened to an estimated US$40.02 million, which is way down from the original Sherlock Holmes' US$62.3 million over Christmas weekend in 2009. In what could be an even more concerning comparison, the movie wound up lower than Tron Legacy's US$44 million start at the same time last year. That's shocking, considering Game of Shadows opened just two years after a well-received original while Tron hit cinemas 28 years after a first movie that wasn't even widely available on DVD or Blu-ray until after Legacy's release.

M:I - Ghost Protocol was the one bright spot at the box office this weekend. Opening at just 425 locations, Ghost Protocol earned an estimated US$13 million for an impressive per-theatre average of US$30,588. By releasing the movie five days early in IMAX and consistently pushing the format's immersive benefits, distributor Paramount Pictures managed to at least initially turn Ghost Protocol in to an event movie that demands to be seen on the big screen.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for Dec 16 - 18, 2011 weekend, in terms of rank, (previous week ranking), Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3)

1. (-) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (WB) $40.0 million ($40.0 million) 1

2. (-) Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 (Fox) $23.5 million ($23.5 million) 1

3. (-) Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (UIP) $13.0 million ($13.6 million) 1

4. (1) New Year's Eve (WB) $7.4 million ($24.8 million) 2

5. (2) The Sitter (Fox) $4.4 million ($17.7 million) 2