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"Dreamgirls" takes holiday box office by storm
2006-12-26
Big-screen musical movie "Dreamgirls" took the Christmas Day box office by storm, grossing nearly $9 million its first day in theaters across North America, according to studio figures issued on Tuesday. The movie adaptation of the hit Broadway show loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes generated ticket sales of $8.7 million as it expanded on Monday to a national roll-out in 852 theaters from an early run in just three venues. The tally was enough to land "Dreamgirls," a Paramount Pictures release, at No. 2 in the Christmas Day box office race, just behind the top-ranked Ben Stiller comedy "Night at the Museum," which took in $11.8 million on Monday from four times as many theaters. Added to the receipts collected during its limited engagement last week at $25 a ticket, "Dreamgirls" finished the holiday weekend with a cumulative gross of $9.5 million. "This thing has been generating big numbers from the moment it opened," said Paul Dergarabedian, head of the box office tracking service Media By Numbers. By comparison, in 2002 another big-screen version of a Broadway musical, "Chicago," amassed $9.2 million through its second weekend after expanding from 77 theaters over the Christmas weekend to 304 theaters in its second outing. The Muhammad Ali boxing drama "Ali" holds the record for the biggest Christmas Day opening, grossing $10.2 million from 2,446 theaters on December 25, 2001, according to Media By Numbers. Starring Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Beyonce Knowles and newcomer Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls" scored seven nominations this month for the Broadcast Film Critics Association awards and five nominations for the Golden Globes, making it a serious contender for the film industry's highest honors, the Oscars. In the Friday-through-Monday box office rankings, "Dreamgirls" grossed $8.9 million, landing it at No.7 for the long holiday weekend. "Night at the Museum" was No 1. with $42.2 million in ticket sales. Other new wide releases included the Sylvester Stallone boxing comeback "Rocky Balboa" at No. 3 with $17 million, the Robert De Niro-directed spy drama "The Good Shepherd" at No. 4 with $13.9 million and football melodrama "We Are Marshall" at No. 8 with a lackluster $8.6 million. Last weekend's top-ranked film, Will Smith's inspirational drama "The Pursuit of Happyness," dropped to No. 2 over the holiday weekend with $23.1 million. "Charlotte's Web" ranked fifth in its second weekend, followed by the dragon adventure "Eragon" at No. 6.
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