December 19, 2011 by Vinnie Leduc
Three new sequels battled it out at the box office this weekend, but the real winner didn’t even finish at the top or in the runner-up spot.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opened with $40 million, while Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked debuted with $23.5 million. However, both sequels’ initial takes were more than $20 million behind their previous films’ openings, not a good sign for either movie.
Conversely, it was another sequel that made waves this weekend. Not only did it garner its best reviews of the franchise (95% RT), Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol broke the record for biggest opening ever for a limited release with $13 million. It’ll be interesting to see how it performs this week when it expands to a wider release against the final five mainstream movies of 2012, including David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo remake and two Steven Spielberg movies.
Here were the top 5 in the domestic box office last weekend via BOM:
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows — Weekend Gross: $40 million — Total Gross: $40 million (new)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked — Weekend Gross: $23.5 million — Total Gross: $23.5 million (new)
- Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol — Weekend Gross: $13 million — Total Gross: $13 million (new)
- New Year’s Eve — Weekend Gross: $7.4 million — Total Gross: $24.8 million (#1 last week)
- The Sitter — Weekend Gross: $4.4 million — Total Gross: $17.7 million (#2 last week)
