Post-yuletide holiday crowds flocked to the same trio of sequels that dominated the Christmas box office -- Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked -- while Summit newcomer The Darkest Hour limped into theaters waaaay under the radar. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise will be ringing in the new year with a number 1 box office finish, made all the sweeter by projections that Ghost Protocol will overtake the $134 million domestic take of the series' last installment by Monday. Dive into your Friday Box Office!
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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn might have held onto the #1 slot during the Thanksgiving frame, but holiday buzz lifted those plucky Muppets to a strong second place showing; with $24.7 million over three days, Jason Segel, Kermit, and Co. should ride the Rainbow Connection all the way to a very nice pile of green by weekend's end. Meanwhile, Happy Feet Two continues to slide and Aardman Animation's fellow wintry offering Arthur Christmas opened with a modest $4.5 million Friday. Martin Scorsese's 3-D fall family flick Hugo, on the other hand, enjoyed a strong debut on a fraction of the screens. Maybe audiences weren't quite ready to ring in the yuletide cheer?
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How appropriate: Your Labor Day holiday is on track to be owned by The Help, a movie about domestic workers. The female-driven, '60s-set lit adaptation has been dominating the charts for three weekends in a row, plowing through the end-of-summer competition left and right, and you know what? Not even sharks and astronauts and spies can slow down the Help train. The pic's on track for The Blind Side-esque awards buzz and an estimated $121M cume by the end of the four-day weekend. Is it crazy to imagine franchise potential here? Drop your The Help 2 sequel pitches below on your way to those Labor Day BBQs!
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