RECORD-BREAKING WEEK AT THE BOX-OFFICE WITH NEARLY $500M SINCE CHRISTMAS (HWD)
By Paul Dergarabedian
Today is the final day of 2009 and the final day of the box-office year. Exceeding all of our expectations, the final week of the year will post record numbers with nearly $500 million in revenue generated from Friday, December 25 through today, Thursday December 31 (we could even crack the half billion mark, depending on today's numbers).
This unthinkable number was produced by a solid combination of films led by Fox's "Avatar" which has been averaging about $18 million per day.
The depth of strong films in this marketplace is astounding with Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," Warner Bros.' "Sherlock Holmes," Universal's "It's Complicated" and Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" all posting great mid-week numbers.
Other titles contributing to this record-breaking week include Warner Bros.' "The Blind Side," Paramount's "Up in the Air" and Sony's "Did You Hear About the Morgans?"
Attendance figures are the highest in the past five years at 1.42 billion tickets sold.
Is it time to ask when - not if - 'Avatar' will usurp 'Titanic's' all-time box-office title? (ML)
Weinstein Co. standing behind 'Nine' (REU)
3D TV: Not So Fast (BBW)
Time Warner Cable agrees to arbitration (THR)
Face Booth: Decade-long project asked stars to take self-portrait and offer millennium message (TELE)
Sheen's wife claims knife used in assault (REU)
The Decade in Maureen Dowd's Pop Cultural References (GAW)
Key Brand Ent to buy Broadway.com in $45M deal (PB)
Francis vows to sue Gawker over "rapist" label (SIX)
