Opening day: '2012' looking huge, 'Christmas Carol' holding strong

The end of the world is going to do big business once again.

Sony Pictures' "2012," the latest disaster movie from director Roland Emmerich, appears headed toward an opening weekend gross of just over $60 million after it sold a studio-estimated $23.7 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada on Friday. That will make it Emmerich's second biggest opening ever, behind 2004's "The Day After Tomorrow," which had the advantage of launching Memorial Day weekend.

Combined with what's expected to be an even bigger performance in 105 foreign territories, "2012" could easily collect about $150 million or more worldwide this weekend, making it a major hit despite its hefty $200 million production cost.

Disney's "A Christmas Carol," meanwhile, appears to be recovering from its weak start. Ticket sales declined only 37% on Friday, putting in on track for a drop of about 30% through Sunday. That would give it a second weekend gross of around $20 million and could augur a long and healthy run through the holidays, particularly on 3-D screens.

Independent favorite "Precious" is headed towards another very strong weekend. According to a competing studio, it collected nearly $2 million at 174 locations on Friday alone, meaning it will likely gross more than $6 million through Sunday. That would give it a very strong per-theater average of about $35,000.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: John Cusack and Woody Harrelson in "2012." Credit: Columbia Pictures.

Comments

[John G.]

Watched 2012 Friday night. 2012 is "Earthquake", "Airport", and "Poseidon Adventure" all rolled into a single disaster movie. Not a deep movie, but entertaining with great special affects. Nothing objectionable in the movie.

[hal9000]

i see the future. i see, astonishingly funny parodies of the movie (just the first 15 minutes). but its yuck and the crowd watching is yuck. who will ever get the jokes?

[Etznab]

"2012: Time for Change" projects a radical alternative to apocalyptic doom and gloom. Directed by Emmy Award nominee Joao Amorim, the film follows journalist Daniel Pinchbeck, author of the bestselling 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, on a quest for a new paradigm that integrates the archaic wisdom of tribal cultures with the scientific method. As conscious agents of evolution, we can redesign post-industrial society on ecological principles to make a world that works for all. Rather than breakdown and barbarism, 2012 will herald the birth of a regenerative planetary culture, where collaboration replaces competition, where exploration of psyche and spirit becomes the new cutting edge, replacing the sterile materialism that has pushed our world to the brink.
Interviews with design scientists, anthropologists, physicists such as Dean Radin, Barbara Marx Hubbard, John Todd and Paul Stamets and celebrities such as Sting, Ellen Page and Gilberto Gil.

http://www.2012timeforchange.com/