Sherlock Holmes, Chipmunks, Mission Impossible Help Box Office Rebound
By Bill Wine
PHILDELPHIA (CBS) - Movie sequels dominated at the box office over the weekend.
After three subpar weekends in a row, and with three new sequels in the mix, national box office rebounded, but not to the level expected. Leading the way was the thriller sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, which earned an estimated $40-million in its debut.
Second place went to the new kidflick sequel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, which took in $23-million. In third was the thriller sequel, Mission Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, with Tom Cruise, at this point playing only in a modest number of IMAX theaters and soon to expand. It earned $13-million.
All of which left last weekend's leader -- the ensemble comedy, New Year's Eve -- in fourth place with $7-million. The weekend's fourth new offering, Young Adult, the comedy-drama with Charlize Theron, placed seventh with a total of just under $4-million.
Overall, industry-wide totals were certainly better than they have been in recent weeks, but remained below those of the counterpart weekend last year.
