Box Office Update for 12/23-12/25: King Kong

King Kong remained high atop the box office pile over the Christmas weekend. Although, it is not doing as nearly as well had been previously estimated prior to its release. There have been many reasons and excuses bandied about for its poor performance against expectations, but honestly, I don't care. The film is excellent and stands on its own. Kong himself stands as potentially the single greatest CG creation yet.

Following closely in 2nd place is the surprisingly strong Chronicles of Narnia. I have been surprised by the strength it has shown over its first three weeks. It is a very good film, and has proven resilient in the face of the numerous new films that opened this past weekend. It is an excellent fantasy yarn for the family.

Of the remaining 8 slots, 6 of them are new to the top ten. Leading the charge are a pair of comedies. The first is a remake of Fun with Dick and Jane, starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni. The other is a sequel to a remake starring starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt. Neither of which strike me as must see films, although the former strikes me as the potentially more entertaining of the two.

The Ringer also made it's debut, at number 7. It is a comedy that has sat on the shelf for a few years, or so I've heard, only now seeing th light of day. It turned out to be laugh out loud and actually respectful. It stars Johnny Knoxville, Katherine Heigl, and Brian Cox. Rounding out the comedies is Rumor Has It, the latest Jennifer Aniston film.

On the Oscar hopeful front, Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich made the presence known. Both of these films are on my to see list.

Debuting shy of the top ten, in 12th, is the Aussie horror flick Wolf Creek. This is a good view for genre fans. It is good, but comes in just shy of High Tension.

That about does it for this week. Time to cram in as many before the new year!

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	1	King Kong	$21,259,320	$108,582,050	2
2	2	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe	$19,777,962	$153,220,802	3
3	N	Fun with Dick and Jane	$14,383,515	$21,959,271	1
4	N	Cheaper by the Dozen 2	$9,309,387	$14,591,141	1
5	12	Memoirs of a Geisha	$6,751,729	$9,841,364	3
6	3	The Family Stone	$6,563,270	$25,763,276	2
7	N	The Ringer	$5,158,795	$5,158,795	1
8	N	Munich	$4,152,260	$4,152,260	1
9	4	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	$3,920,000	$260,635,000	6
10	N	Rumor Has It	$3,470,000	$3,470,000	1