Box Office: Pitt Flops, Bond and Lincoln Soar

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Summit Entertainment’s Twilight Saga finale Breaking Dawn Part 2 is #1 for the third weekend in a row, the Eon Productions/MGM/Sony Pictures’ James Bond actioner Skyfall is a close #2, and Steven Spielberg’s Oscar buzzed Lincoln from DreamWorks/Fox/Disney is #3. During the week, Wall Street called DreamWorks Animation’s Rise Of The Guardians “one of the most disappointing releases in the company’s history” – enough to hurt the public company’s share price. Analysts expected to see $55M-$58M for the toon over Thanksgiving – not $32.6M. But they join Hollywood in still struggling to understand why audiences rejected the film. No momentum even now.

Traditionally the weekend after Thanksgiving gives new definition to the term ‘quiet’. I’m told it’s failed to produce a wide release hit for 20 years and counting. So there were low expectations for producer Brad Pitt‘s R-rated ruthless star turn in Killing Them Softly (2,424 theaters) from his Plan B production company and Oracle heiress Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures which financed it for $15M. But Friday night it received a miserable ‘F’ CinemaScore from audiences despite decent reviews and a stellar cast including Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, and James Gandolfini. Little wonder that distributor The Weinstein Company dumped the film this off-weekend – when no movie has opened north of $10 million since 2005′s Aeon Flux [.]

1. Twilight: Breaking Dawn 2 (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 3 [Runs 4,008] PG13
Friday $5.4M, Weekend $16.5M, Cume $253.7M

2. Skyfall (Eon/MGM/Sony) Week 4 [Runs 3,463] PG13
Friday $4.8M, Weekend $16.2M, Cume $245.7M

3. Lincoln (DreamWorks/Fox/Disney) Week 4 [Runs 2,018] PG13
Friday $4.0M, Weekend $13.9M, Cume $84.1M

Much more here.