There are three new films opening in wide release this weekend: Three teenagers develop super powers in low budget found footage film Chronicle from 20^th Century Fox, Daniel Radcliffe tries life after Harry Potter in haunted house thriller The Woman in Black from CBS Films and Drew Barrymore frees Willie in whale tale Big Miracle. One major factor impacting the box office this weekend is the Super Bowl which will depress Sunday’s grosses. Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate about $85.6 million over the weekend, up about 20.2% from last year when both The Roommate from Sony and Universal’s Sanctum led the overall Top 10 to a total of $68.3 million. 

There are three new films opening in wide release this weekend: Liam Neeson battles the elements in The Grey from Open Road Films, Katherine Heigl turns bounty hunter in romantic comedy One for the Money from Lionsgate and Sam Worthington stars in thriller Man on a Ledge from Summit Entertainment.  Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate about $82.3 million over the weekend, down about 5.8% from last year when both The Rite from Warner Bros. and Paramount’s No Strings Attached led the overall Top 10 to a total of $87.4 million. 

There are four new films opening in wide release this weekend: Sony unleashes the fourth chapter in its supernatural saga Underworld: Awakening, 20^th Century Fox’s war drama Red Tails about the Tuskegee Airmen flies into theatres, Relativity Media releases this year’s female spy revenge flick Haywire and after a limited debut in only 6 theatres, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close from both Paramount and Warner Bros. expands nationwide. Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate about $102.3 million over the weekend, up about 18.4% from last year when both Paramount’s No Strings Attached and The Green Hornet from Sony led the overall Top 10 to a total of $83.5 million. 

There are three new films opening in wide release this weekend: Disney unleashes another one of their old films from the vault with the 3D re-release of animated classic Beauty and the Beast, Mark Wahlberg is back in action star mode in Universal’s Contraband and Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton star in musical comedy Joyful Noise from Warner Bros. No new fright flicks are being released this weekend, despite this Friday being the 13^th, leaving The Devil Inside the market all to itself on the spooky calendar day. Nonetheless, the found footage exorcism film should be in for a steep drop this weekend due to the poor word of mouth the film has been receiving. Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate about $102.3 million over the weekend, down about 5.1% from last year when both The Green Hornet from Sony and The Dilemma from Universal led the overall Top 10 to a total of $107.8 million. 

There is only one film opening in wide release this weekend: Paramount releases this year’s obligatory exorcism film, The Devil Inside, yet another lost footage horror film that claims to be real.   It is an inauspicious start to the New Year that will allow holdover films from the holiday’s the opportunity to pick up some lost ticket sales due to all the competition at the end of the year. That being said, there are many high profile films being released this year that will likely make 2012 a banner year at the box office. Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate about $92.6 million over the weekend, up about 3.6% from last year when both True Grit from Paramount and Little Fockers from Universal led the overall Top 10 to a total of $89.3 million. 

There are quite a few new films opening in wide release between Wednesday, December 21st and Sunday, December 25^th. On the 21^st three new films open in wide release: Paramount’s Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol expands wide after debuting on 425 IMAX screens on the 16^th, based on the best-selling book series Sony unveils The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and after a successful launch internationally Paramount releases animated journey film The Adventures of Tintin directed by Steven Spielberg.  On Friday the 23^rd, 20^th Century Fox invites you to director Cameron Crowe’s feel-good family film We Bought a Zoo starring Matt Damon. Finally on Christmas Day, DreamWorks releases Oscar hopeful War Horse from director Steven Spielberg and Summit Entertainment’s alien invasion flick The Darkest Hour assaults theatres. Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate about $126.7 million over the Friday to Sunday portion of the weekend, up about 2% from last year when both Little Fockers from Universal and True Grit from Paramountled the overall Top 10 to a total of $124.2 million. 

There are two new films opening in wide release this weekend:   Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law take on a new case in adventure sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows from Warner Bros. and Alvin and his cuddly entourage are marooned on an island in family threequel Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked from 20^th Century Fox. In addition to the new films above, Paramount is releasing Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol on 400 IMAX screens nationwide and also expanding their Oscar hopeful, Young Adult starring Charlize Theron into approximately 1000 theatres. Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate a robust $145 million over the weekend, up about 13.8% from last year when both Tron: Legacy from Disney and Yogi Bear from Warner Bros. led the overall Top 10 to a total of $124.9 million. 

There are two new films opening in wide release this weekend:  New Line Cinema once again tries to capture holiday magic with their star-studded follow-up to last year’s Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve and Jonah Hill stars in R-rated comedy The Sitter from 20^th Century Fox. Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate a dismal $77.7 million over the weekend, down about 4.8% from last year when both The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from 20^th Century Fox and Sony’s The Tourist led the overall Top 10 to a total of $81.6 million. The box office should rebound nicely with potential blockbuster sequels Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked opening next weekend. 

After a bloated five day Thanksgiving holiday, the box office should fall back to Earth this weekend. Traditionally, the weekend after Thanksgiving is a slow one at the box office and with no new films opening in wide release, this year should continue the pattern. After enjoying strong holds over the holiday, most holdover films will be in for a correction this weekend and should experience large declines. Last week’s trio of new releases, all aimed at families may not drop quite as hard as the other films in the Top 10, due to the fact that family dollars were spread thin between the titles. These films likely did not reach their full potential last weekend and many families may choose to go see whichever film they missed last weekend. Based on my estimates, the Top 10 will generate $77.7 million over the weekend, up about 3.6% from last year when Disney’s Tangled and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 led the overall Top 10 to a total of $74.9 million.