The vfx-laden Ben Stiller comedy Night at the Museum sold more tickets than any other film over the holiday period, earning an estimated $125.7 million for 20th Century Fox over the past two weeks. The film opened to $30 million over the Christmas weekend but did even better during the New Year frame, picking up another $46.7 million (est.). The holidays were also good for the Will Smith drama The Pursuit of Happyness, which crossed the $100 million mark in its third week and holds tight to the No. 2 slot.
In Night at the Museum, Stiller’s character takes a job as night watchman at New York’s Museum of Natural History, where the exhibits come to life at night. The film’s extensive visual effects and character animation work was provided by Rhythm & Hues, Weta Digital, Rainmaker, Maestro FX, New Deal Studios and The Orphanage.
DreamWorks’ highly touted Dreamgirls, a filmed adaptation of the popular stage musical, opened wide over the holiday period, adding a weekend take of around $18.6 million to bring its five-week cumulative to an estimated $41.6 million. The pic holds the No. 3 spot, while Paramount’s live-action/CG adaptation of E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web slips to fourth place with around $15 million and an estimated three-week draw of nearly $60 million. Universal’s Robert DeNiro-directed CIA drama, The Good Shepherd, rounds out the top five with an estimated $14.2 million in its sophomore outing.
The season’s biggest hit, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow’s animated Happy Feet, is still in the top 10 after seven weeks. To date, the film has earned approximately $178 million domestically and $291 million worldwide, and currently stands at No. 9 after a $9.7 million three-day weekend. Meanwhile, Eragon failed to get the holiday bump 20th Century Fox was hoping for. The $100 million fantasy pic based on Christopher Piolini’s best-selling book series has slid down the chart to No. 7. The effects film added around $10 million to its domestic take, which has reached $58.7 million after three weeks. With worldwide receipts at around $91 million, Fox stands to break even on its production budget before sending the film to home video, but hopes for a big-screen franchise have been greatly compromised by its performance.
The effects-heavy Pan’s Labyrinth from Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro opened in limited release over the long weekend, taking in approximately $751,000 in 17 theaters in North America to bring its worldwide total past $24 million. Featuring visual effects by CafeFX, the Spanish-language fantasy/horror film is making many critics’ lists of the best films of 2006 and is sure to have a good showing during awards season.
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