In what was the second weakest weekend box office of the year, James Bond returned to the top as Skyfall beat out Rise of the Guardians and Breaking Dawn – Part 2 while leaving newcomer Playing for Keeps in the dust.
Impressively, Skyfall took back the box office crown in its fifth weekend in release, managing $11 million. What’s perhaps the biggest take away from this is that its worldwide total is now at $918.2 million, making it Sony’s highest grossing film of all-time, topping Spider-Man 3 for that mark.
In second place was (surprisingly) Rise of the Guardians, which took in $10.5 million, however in the long run the film is still a failure as its total domestic haul grew to $61.9 million on a hefty $145 million budget. In third place was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 took in $9.2 million, but the important take away is it is now the highest grossing Twilight film worldwide, as its tally is now up to $751.2 million.
The weekend’s only new release was the Gerard Butler romantic comedy Playing for Keeps, which struggled from an abysmal 2% on Rotten Tomatoes and managed just $6 million and a sixth place finish. Yet a “B+” CinemaScore reinforces the growing gap between critics and audiences, just one week after Killing Them Softly, a certified fresh film, got an “F” from CinemaScore.
Next weekend The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will burst onto the scene and may break the December box office record.
Here’s a breakdown of the top ten earners for the weekend of Dec. 7, 2012:
Weekend: $11 million ($261.6 million total)
Theaters: 3,401
Budget: $200 million
CinemaScore: A
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Hypable Grade: A-
2. Rise of the Guardians – $10.5 million ($61.9 million total)
3. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 – $9.2 million ($268.7 million total)
4. Lincoln – $9.1 million ($97.3 million total)
5. Life of Pi – $8.3 million ($131.2 million total)
6. Playing for Keeps – $6 million
7. Wreck-It Ralph – $4.9 million ($164.4 million total)
8. Red Dawn – $4.2 million ($37.2 million total)
9. Flight – $3.1 million ($96.2 million total)
10. Killing Them Softly – $2.7 million ($11.7 million total)