The Gift That Keeps On Giving

The holiday comedy Four Christmases unwrapped another win at #1...And I think it's safe to say that another Punisher flick won't be happening anytime soon.

Ben Fritz of Variety:

"Four Christmases" kept auds laughing in wide release while the Punisher fired blanks and Richard Nixon led another boffo weekend.

The New Line/Warner Bros. laffer was No. 1 for a second consecutive frame, nabbing $18.2 million at the weekend box office, a drop of 41% from last week. The comedy has cumed $70.8 million in 12 days.

Lionsgate’s “Punisher: War Zone,” the weekend’s only new wide release, bowed to a weak $4 million at 2,508 locations. That’s less than a third of what the studio’s first “Punisher” pic opened to in 2004.

Summit’s “Twilight” filled the second spot with $13.2 million, bringing its cume to $138.6 million.

Disney toon “Bolt,” which came in No. 3, was hurt much more by the holiday comparison, falling 64% to $9.7 million. Total take so far is $79.2 million.

Universal’s “Frost/Nixon” bowed to an estimated $180,000 from just three theaters in Gotham, L.A. and Toronto, giving it a per play average of $60,000, the second biggest of the year. Perf is about 50% higher than scribe Peter Morgan’s last revisiting of historical events, “The Queen,” which averaged just over $40,000 on its opening weekend in 2006.

“Slumdog Millionaire” and “Milk” also continued to do solid biz on a small number of screens. Fox Searchlight’s “Slumdog,” which last week won the National Board of Review prize as best film of the year, grossed $1.4 million at 78 locations, averaging $18,031. Cume after four frames is $5.3 million for the Danny Boyle-helmed inspirational tale set in India.

Focus’ biopic was close behind, averaging $17,076 at 99 theaters, giving it a gross of $1.7 million on its second weekend. Sean Penn starrer has cumed $4.1 million.

Diskery Sony BMG’s first pic, “Cadillac Records,” distributed under the TriStar label, opened with a decent $3.5 million at 686 playdates.

Baz Luhrmann’s costly epic “Australia” didn’t show the strong legs Fox may have been hoping for on its second frame, dropping 53% from its so-so debut to $7.9 million. Cume on the Hugh Jackson and Nicole Kidman starrer is $30.9 million...

Joshua Rich of EW:

Vince Vaughn-Reese Witherspoon comedy repeats as box office No. 1; ''Punisher: War Zone'' stumbles...