Dreamworks Animation’s Puss in Boots posted the lowest non-Holiday drop for a widely released film this year, just 3%, and easily held on to the top spot at the weekend box office with an estimated $33.04 million.  The Jerry Stiller/Eddie Murphy comedy caper film Tower Heist debuted at the lower end of expectations with an estimated $25.1 million, while A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas disappointed slightly with an estimated $13.1 million bow.  Overall the box office was down at least 20% from last year when Due Date and Megamind opened during this weekend.

 

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): November 4 - 6, 2011
	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./ Screen	Total Gross	Wk#
1	Puss in Boots	$33,035,000	3,963	$8,336	$75,508,000	2
2	Tower Heist	$25,100,000	3,367	$7,455	$25,100,000	1
3	A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas	$13,065,000	2,875	$4,544	$13,065,000	1
4	Paranormal Activity 3	$8,525,000	3,286	$2,594	$95,308,000	3
5	In Time	$7,700,000	3,127	$2,462	$24,209,000	2
6	Footloose	$4,550,000	2,811	$1,619	$44,800,000	4
7	Real Steel	$3,407,000	2,438	$1,397	$78,750,000	5
8	The Rum Diary	$2,988,000	2,292	$1,304	$10,423,000	2
9	The Ides of March	$2,000,000	1,391	$1,438	$36,800,000	5
10	Moneyball	$1,900,000	1,278	$1,487	$70,327,000	7

 

While Puss in Boots held the domestic box office crown for the second straight week, Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin ruled the worldwide box office for the second weekend in a row as it took in $40.8 million, mostly from Europe and the Middle East.  The mo-cap animated feature has now earned $125.3 million in ten days of release.  It won't open in the U.S. until December.

 

It now appears that last weekend’s freak snowstorm on the East Coast did have a major effect on the debut of Puss in Boot, and a lot of folks who weren’t able to make it theaters during the film’s opening frame made to a second weekend show. W ith two more weeks before the Thanksgiving barrage of family films begins, Puss should add considerably to its current $75.5 million domestic cumulative.

 

Tower Heist, which was expected by many to win the weekend, opened more in Mr. Stiller’s neighborhood (Tropic Thunder bowed $25.8 million) than in Mr. Murphy’s (Norbit debuted with $34.2 million).  The opening weekend audience for Tower Heist was slightly female (56%), but decidedly older (62% 30 or older). With its lackluster CinemaScore of “B” Tower Heist, which at $85 million is pricy for a comedy, might have limited prospects, though it did manage a 68% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and comedies generally show greater staying power at the box office.  The movie’s “Occupy Wall St.” theme of disgruntled employees getting back at their Ponzi-scheming boss hasn’t resonated with younger viewers, at least not yet.

 

The holiday theme didn’t immediately help the third Harold & Kumar film, which earned an estimated $13.1 million versus $14.9 million for Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay in 2008.  The audience for the latest film in the stoner comedy series was 62% male and 73% under 35.  The Christmas theme could help in the coming weeks as the holidays approach, but it appears that critics (73% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) liked the film better than the opening weekend audiences, which gave it just a “B” CinemaScore.  95% of the Harold & Kumar’s total came from 3-D showings, but since 89% of the film’s showings were in 3-D, that percentage is not as remarkable as it seems, since most moviegoers didn’t even have a chance to see the film in 2-D.  One problem for the latest Harold & Kumar film could well be holding on to those 3-D screens later this month with all the big holiday movies opening.

 

Paranormal Activity 3 dropped 53% in its third weekend, but still earned $8.5 million and brought its total to $95.3 million, while the Justin Timberlake-starring In Time, which opened last week fell just 36.1% and finished fifth with $7.7 million.

 

Stop by next week and see how this week’s films fare when competing against a trio of newcomers that includes the Adam Sandler comedy Jack and Jill, the Clint Eastwood-directed, Leonardo DiCaprio-starring J.Edgar, and the 300-esque green screen mythological fantasy Immortals, which stars Henry Cavill, who is currently playing Superman/Clark Kent in Bryan Singer’s Man of Steel.