Pamela McClintock of Variety:
The second weekend of the holiday sesh continued to bring big gains for the film biz, with Disney sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" leading and 20th Century Fox's runaway hit "Alvin and the Chipmunks" overtaking Warner Bros.' "I Am Legend" for the No. 2 spot.
"Book of Secrets" declined a narrow 20% in its second frame to an estimated $35.6 million from 3,832 runs for a cume of $124 million, according to Rentrak. That bests the $87.2 million grossed by the original "National Treasure" in its first 10 days.
Overtaking "Legend" for the first time since both films bowed on Dec. 14, live-action/CGI hybrid "Alvin" grossed an estimated $30 million from 3,484 runs for a cume of $142.4 million, outpacing all expectations and positioning the family title to be among the top 10 grossing films of the year.
"Legend" has already accomplished that feat. Sci-fi thriller, toplining Will Smith, grossed an estimated $27.5 million from 3,636 runs over the weekend for a cume of $194.6 million. That's a decline of just 18%. Film, coming in No. 3 for the weekend, will easily jump the $200 million B.O. mark today.
Frame marks the third weekend in a row that box office business is up from the previous year. And with the holiday not over, studios and specialty distribs expect to see significant grosses over the next week...
"National Treasure," released over Thanksgiving 2004, went on to gross roughly $173 million at the domestic box office.
Fox senior VP of distribution Bert Livingston said "Alvin" is unstoppable...
The Fox empire also took the No. 5 spot with Christmas day opener "Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem," which grossed an estimated $10 million from 2,611 runs for a cume of $26.9 million in the sequel's first six days. Fox noted that the film was up over the weekend.
Landing at No. 7 for the weekend was Sony and Walden Media's kiddie entry "Water Horse: Legend of the Deep," which grossed an estimated $9.2 million from 2,772 runs for a cume of $16.8 million. Like "Aliens," pic opened on Christmas.
MGM and the Weinstein Co.'s "The Great Debaters"—the third film opening on the holiday itself— wasn't able to crack the top 10 list, coming in No. 11 for the weekend. Film, directed by and starring Denzel Washington, grossed an estimated $6.3 million from 1,171 runs for a cume of $13.5 million.
The Weinstein Co. noted that "Debaters" enjoyed a 17% Friday-to-Saturday jump, indicating promising word-of-mouth.
Warners' Hilary Swank-Gerard Butler romancer "P.S. I Love You" placed No. 8 for the frame, grossing an estimated $9.1 million from 2,464 runs for a cume of $23.4 million in the pic's first 10 days. Like other films playing to adult auds, the pic was up over the previous weekend...
Read the rest of 'Treasure' keeps box office crown for more...
Joshua Rich of EW:
Nicolas Cage sequel ''Book of Secrets'' is No. 1 again, leading a generally strong weekend for holdovers...
Read More Here...
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