Both Bee Movie and American Gangster were unable to withstand the brutal slaughter of turkey day. These once promising hits plummeted down the weekend box office chart with the appearance of seven new major motion pictures. Bee Movie still managed to pull in an estimated $12 million over the holiday, putting its cumulative grosses at $112 million. That means Jerry Seinfeld can pretty much do whatever he wants when and if he chooses to take on another project. Hopefully its something a little more adult oriented. American Gangster, which opened strong against Bee Movie, but has been trailing behind Barry B. Benson ever since, didn't fare as well as Seinfeld's number five spot. The Ridley Scott crime drama hit at number eight with just $9.2 million. Don't cry Argentina for the film just yet, it has pulled in a cumulative gross of $115 million. That makes it a certified hit; one that has performed just a little better than the animated bee himself.
The real news this Thanksgiving weekend was Enchanted. Hopes weren't very high for this weird mix of Disney animation and live action. But it proved to be an audience pleaser. The winning pic resides at number one with $35.3 million. No one saw that hit coming. Even more surprising, though, was the success of This Christmas, which is only playing in half as many theaters. Riding on the coattails of Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, the film shocked industry insiders by landing in the number two spot with $18.6 million. No one guessed this would happened.
The big let down this Thanksgiving was Stephen King's The Mist. It is one of the best genre films of the year, yet audiences didn't find it. The film hit number nine; barely squeaking into the top ten with just $9 million. Perhaps the ending was a little too depressing for a family holiday weekend. Good word of mouth should boost its favor. I'm guessing that this will be a big hit on video. Even more surprising was the fact that both Hitman and August Rush managed to do better than Frank Darabont's Stephen King Adaptation. Timothy Olyphant's video game redo came in at number four with a solid little take of $13 million. While the dramatic themed August Rush came in number seven with $9.4 million.
Next week marks the beginning of the end for 2008 and its movie output. It also marks the beginning of the Christmas movie season. None of this week's releases should find themselves quaking too hard in their boots. The only major release is Awake, starring Jessica Alba and Hayden Christensen. Maybe this will give Stephen King's The Mist another shot at box office gold. Seriously. Go see it.
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