Tis the season to hear the people sing, as evidenced by the numbers being reported for the anticipated box office take for Les Miserables, which arrived in theaters yesterday for its Christmas release. Tom Hooper's adaptation of the popular stage musical isn't the only film with cause to celebrate. Django Unchained and The Hobbit also did well.
As of yesterday, Deadline reported that Les Miserables grossed somewhere in the ballpark of $18 million for its Christmas release. Given the popularity of the musical, added to reports of record breaking advance tickets sales, it's not entirely surprising that the film performed well, but it sounds like it did better than expected.
Following behind Les Mis is Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. The Jamie Foxx starring western brought in about $15.5 million yesterday, which might actually be a new record for an R-rated Christmas Day opening.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which arrived in theaters December 14, comes in at #3 with an expected $10.8 million gross for Tuesday. This was followed by new release Parental Guidance, which grossed somewhere near $7 million. The family comedy stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as two grandparents tasked to watch their grandkids.
Coming in behind Parental Guidance and the other three mentioned films are Jack Reacher ($5.1 million), This is 40 ($4.3 million), Lincoln ($2.4 million) and The Guilt Trip ($2.3 million).
So, it seems musicals, bloody westerns and adventures have won out over the comedies this Christmas. We'll have to wait and see how the numbers shake out as the week progresses and more people head into the theaters to catch the final set of releases for 2012.
On a more personal note, I went with Django for my Christmas movie of choice, and I wasn't disappointed. Nothing tops a day of gift-giving, delicious food and fine, family fun quite like a Tarantino film.
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