Warner Bros.’ holiday comedy Four Christmases easily overcame a raft of bad notices (only 26% of the reviews were positive according to Rotten Tomatoes) and captured the Thanksgiving weekend box office with estimated totals of $46.7 million (5-day) and $31.7 million (3-day).  The seasonal spoof, which stars Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, earned a “B” score from audiences and appears to be set for a $100 million run through the upcoming holiday period. 

The two other newcomers in wide release didn’t fare as well, though along with strong holdovers they helped to provide Hollywood with a solid 4% boost over the Turkey Day weekend in 2007.  Among the other debuting films, Baz Luhrman’s epic Australia earned an estimated $14.8 million, which beat Fox’s expectations for the film, though it was only good enough for fifth place.  65% of the audience for Australia was over 25, while 52% was female, and they liked the film, giving it an “A-“grade, which means that Australia could have “legs” that keep it in cinemas through the end of 2008.  The other newcomer, Transporter 3, earned an estimated $18.5 over the five-day weekend, a noticeable drop from the $20.2 million that Transporter 2 brought in over the four-day Labor Day weekend in 2005.

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): Nov. 28 - 30, 2008

Disney’s animated feature Bolt, which disappointed during its opening frame, accomplished the rare feat (for a film in wide release) of increasing its box office take during its second weekend.  Bolt earned an estimated $26.6 million over the 3-day weekend, an increase of 1.4% over its first weekend take. 

Another rare accomplishment that occurred this weekend was provided by Gus Van Sant’s Milk, which stars Sean Penn as the slain San Francisco County Supervisor Harvey Milk.  Milk made the top 10 (at #10) in spite of the fact that it was playing in just 36 theaters, thanks to an astounding $38,361 per theater average—and Milk just barely nosed out Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, which was playing in just 49 theaters and earning a sensational $27,898 per venue.

As expected Summit’s Twilight took a major tumble, falling 62% for the 3-day weekend, but Twilight still came in a close third over the 3-day weekend and has now earned an impressive $119.7 million in just ten days. 

Three other top 10 films posted slim declines and helped propel Hollywood’s strong Thanksgiving weekend.  The new James Bond film Quantum of Solace fell only 27% in its third weekend, earning an estimated $19.5 million, finishing in fourth place, and bringing its domestic cumulative to $142 million.  Overseas Quantum has dominated over the past month earning over $340 million.  Dreamworks’ animated film Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa finished in the sixth spot and brought in $14.5 million, a decline of only 7%, while Universal’s comedy Role Models fell just 28%, earning an estimated $5.2 million and ending up in the eighth position.