Weekend Box Office: November 30-December 2, 2012

Twilight tops thrice!

The post-Thanksgiving weekend was expectedly slow at the box office, giving THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN (PART 2) one more chance to remain at the top with $17.4 million.

Domestically, the lazy-lidded monster romance still has a fair climb to beat BREAKING DAWN (PART 1), which topped out at $281.2 million, but the franchise finale’s $702.4 million global total is quickly creeping up on BREAKING DAWN (PART 1)’s $712.2M international take.

It’s also plausible that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN (PART 2) could actually go four weeks at #1, considering that the only new competition next week is the romantic comedy PLAYING FOR KEEPS. Then again, keep in mind that after three weekends, BREAKING DAWN (PART 1) got knocked from the top spot last year by NEW YEAR’S EVE…

The top six movies all held their position from last week, but not by much. SKYFALL was near the top with another $17 million — and with $869M worldwide so far, Bond’s latest isn’t just the biggest 007 movie yet, but also the highest grossing spy movie ever, easily surpassing the BOURNEs and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLEs.

Spielberg’s LINCOLN is still standing tall, while Dreamworks’ RISE OF THE GUARDIANS appears to be a disappointment with less than $50M so far (which is what the studio reportedly expected to make just over the Thanksgiving holiday). LIFE OF PI is still adrift in the middle of the chart, but the remake of RED DAWN has already almost run out of ammo.

Brad Pitt’s new crime drama KILLING THEM SOFTLY was quietly murdered in seventh place with just $7 million. Pitt also produced the film, which reunited the actor with his THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES director Andrew Dominik, but audiences weren’t interested. For Pitt in a starring role, it marks the lowest opening of a wide release (1000+ screens) since… wow, THE FAVOR in 1994, or (if you don’t consider that a Pitt lead) COOL WORLD in 1992.

The few moviegoers that did check out Pitt’s hitman turn labeled it with a rare ‘F’ CinemaScore (the last major studio release to get an ‘F’ was January’s “found footage” exorcism flick THE DEVIL INSIDE, which nonetheless opened to $33.7 million). Pitt’s star power was slightly more effective with international audiences — KILLING THEM SOFTLY gathered almost $15 million overseas (the film’s budget was around that amount).

The week’s other new release, the horror sequel THE COLLECTION, landed in tenth with $3.4 million (less than THE COLLECTOR’s $3.5M opening in 2009). Outside the chart, the buzzed comedy-drama SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is still doing strong business on 371 screens, while Ben Affleck’s ARGO finally crossed the $100 million mark.

Next weekend offers just one new wide release, the Gerard Butler romcom PLAYING FOR KEEPS, while the Bruce Willis gambling comedy LAY THE FAVORITE opens in limited release, along with Bill Murray in HYDE PARK ON HUDSON and Eric Bana in DEADFALL.

What December release are you most looking forward to seeing? VOTE HERE!