Box Office Update for 12/2-12/4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter held onto the top spot in the annual post-holiday slump. It managed to bring in nearly $20 million, despite losing over 60% of its audience from the previous week. It became the first film of the year to hold onto the top spot for three straight weeks, a streak that will surely come to an end when Chronicles of Narnia opens next week, then that will be taken down by the coming of Kong the week after that. In any case, the Potter franchise is alive and well. To date the latest entry is drawing near to $230 million, and I will predict a final domestic tally in the $270 million range.

Coming at what has been called the high end of low expectations is Aeon Flux. I have been a personal witness to this raging steaming pile, and implore anyone considering this as their sci-fi fix, reconsider. This is on par with a Sci-Fi Channel Original. The editing is bad, story is lame, acting is poor. There goes an hour and a half of my life that I will never get back.

Chicken Little is starting to slip a little. It has fallen to seventh place, slipping over 55% in its take. I think that everyone who has wanted to see this, has, and is ready to move on to other things. Moving in the opposite direction, at least in placement, is Just Friends. Surprisingly, it actually moved up a space, to 5th. I have seen it, and while I couldn't really call it a "good" movie, it is definitely entertaining.

Continuing to do relatively well is Walk the Line. While it is not the best film of the year, it does have a couple of the best performances.

There is not much else to speak on this week. The coming weeks, however, will bring more Oscar hopefuls and it will be interesting to see how they perform and if they will be able to cling to their Oscar hopes.

This Week	Last Week	Title	Wknd Gross	Overall	Week in release
1	1	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	$19,878,136	$229,266,716	3
2	N	Aeon Flux	$12,661,112	$12,661,112	1
3	2	Walk the Line	$9,532,166	$68,298,646	3
4	3	Yours, Mine, and Ours	$8,258,472	$34,423,307	2
5	6	Just Friends	$5,601,132	$21,109,390	2
6	5	Rent	$4,441,633	$23,743,498	2
7	4	Chicken Little	$4,406,418	$124,118,837	5
8	7	Pride and Prejudice	$4,390,178	$22,398,482	4
9	8	Derailed	$2,300,550	$32,711,697	4
10	9	In the Mix	$1,867,971	$8,625,445	2