Beasts rule the box office: Xmas takings review

Beasts rule the box office: Xmas takings review

LOS ANGELES: The battle of blockbusters during the Christmas weekend had one big surprise: 'King Kong'.

The giant ape remake towered over the rest of the movies in takings for the four-day period Friday-through-Monday. With its box office takings at $31.4 million it dwarfed all movies except one – 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' which pulled in $30.1 million.

The giant ape film hardly needed luck or the absence of the most virulent among movie critics who decided to take a breather for the festival. The ape stomped about movie halls across the country luring kids and towing their families along. People had simply forgotten that there have been nearly half a dozen versions made before, justifying a promoter's belief that it's the eighth wonder of the world, something people never tire of. The latest version is not based on the same story, a movie-goer said.

While distributors of the two top films were thanking Santa for the fabulous collections, movie hall owners and managers were hailing the 'Narnia' film as a holiday classic.

The 'Narnia' film has done better in total earnings - at $163.5m after 17 days, whereas the $207m 'King Kong' had raked in $118.7m after 12 days. The producers of 'Narnia' expect box office collections to cross $200m by New Year's Eve. The overall ticket sales during the weekend was found to be 20 percent more than the previous weekend's takings.

Following these two movies was the Jim Carrey comedy 'Fun With Dick and Jane' at third place with $23.5m in the four-day period. There were fewer takers for 'Cheaper By The Dozen 2', Steve Martin's tired family comedy which made $14.8m. Comedy appears to be out this season. The other family drama, Diane Keaton-starrer 'The Family Stone' collected $10.9m.

Films that had been performing poorly for many weeks but gained during the weekend, included 'Memoirs of a Geisha' which reported ticket sales of $10.2m rising to sixth place on the list. 'Ringer' stood seventh with $8.4m and the Jennifer Anniston-starrer comedy 'Rumor Has It' at No.8 with $7.5m.

At No.9 and No.10 were horror film 'Wolf Creek' and the all-time record money-raker 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' respectively. The Potter film's box office collection from North America region alone totals $262.4m.