Happy New Year!

Closing 2011 and beginning the new year, movie goers flocked to the theaters, many still in search of a good action flick to end 2011 and begin 2012. Why not start 2012 off with a bang?! Nothing new premiered this past weekend, so many films reclaimed their positions from last weekend and saw a huge increase.

Coming in #1 for a second weekend in row was Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol with $31.25 million. Since the film’s release, Tom Cruise and his fellow IMF team raked in $134 million domestically in the past 3 weeks; that’s a slight increase of 5.9 percent from the previous weekend. Well see if Cruise can keep it up going into next weekend.

In second place, for a second weekend, was Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which grossed just over $22 million. Believe it or not, that’s an increase of 9.1 percent from the previous weekend. Domestically, the film grossed $132 million since its release three weeks ago. Although this week was a better week for the duo, the film still lags behind its predecessor in numbers.

Looks like the kids found themselves a bit bored this weekend, as most flocked to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. The furry friends shot up to #3 this weekend and grossed $18.25 million, that’s an increase of 45 percent from the last weekend. Not bad at all. The film has yet to pass the $100 million mark domestically, but with a gross of $94.6 million, the chipmunks are on their way.

Out of all the films, War Horse had the biggest increase. From 8th to 4th place, the Steven Spielberg-directed film earned $16.94 million with an increase of 125.4 percent since the previous weekend. No doubt, through word-of-mouth, War House climbed the ladder and is sure to continue climbing.

In fifth place, falling two places, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo grossed $16.3 million this past weekend. Even falling two places, the film saw an increase of 27.8 percent. With a domestic total of $57 million, The ‘R’-rated film, has a few weeks to go before passing the production budget of $90 million.

The first weekend of 2012 kicks off with the horror exorcism film, The Devil Inside.

Box Office Report: December 30 – January 1st: 

1. Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol $31.25 million
2. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows $22.1 million
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked $18.25 million
4. War Horse $16.94 million
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo $16.3 million
6. We Bought a Zoo $14.3 million
7. The Adventures of Tintin $12 million
8. New Year’s Eve $6.74 million
9. The Darkest Hour $4.3 million
10.  The Descendants $3.65 million