Family Is Forever

The Comedy Sequel Little Fockers Was The Favorite Gift At The Cineplex Over The Holiday Weekend--While Gulliver's Travels Ended Up Being One BIG Lump Of Coal....

Pamela McClintock of THR:

Universal's Little Fockers may have topped the Christmas box office with an estimated $48.3 million five-day debut, but it was Paramount's True Grit that saw the grittiest grosses, earning an estimated $36.8 million to come in No. 2.

Both pics debuted on Wednesday. Estimates are through Sunday.

Critically acclaimed True Grit -- delivering the Coen Brothers their best opening ever -- scored a surprise win over Tron: Legacy in placing No. 2.

Little Fockers fell well short of the $70 million opening for Meet the Parents over the same five days in 2004, but did gain momentum over the weekend. Overseas, where Paramount is distributing, the threequel grossed a solid $27 million from 3,933 locations in 37 territories for a worldwide opening of $75.3 million. Universal, Relativity and Paramount are equal partners on Fockers, which cost $100 million to produce.

Opening on Christmas Day was 20th Century Fox's Gulliver's Travels, which placed only No. 7 for the weekend, grossing an estimated $7.2 million from 2,546 theaters on Saturday and Sunday.

For the weekend itself, Fockers grossed roughly $34 million, providing the bounty of its five-day $48.4 million total from 3,536 theaters.

True Grit, playing in 3,047 theaters, grossed an estimated $25.6 million for the weekend itself on its way to scoring $36.8 million for the five days.

Tron: Legacy, which was expected to place No. 2 for the Christmas session, grossed an estimated $20.1 million for the weekend from 3,451 theaters and $31.8 million for the five days. Tron, opening Dec. 17, has grossed a total of $88.3 million.

While Gulliver's was soft, Fox Searchlight's Black Swan continued to be a winner for the Fox empire. Specialty pic grossed an estimated $6.6 million from 1,456 theaters for the weekend and $10.2 million for the five days for a cume of $29 million....

Keith Staskiewicz of  EW

Third chapter of franchise leads weekend box office, but below expectations; ''True Grit'' a strong No. 2

Next Up: 2010 closes out with NO MAJOR wide releases on the calendar--Among the pics bowing in limited release is Derek Cianfrance's attention getting Blue Valentine with Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams