box is making waves – Box Office: “Little Fockers” is No. 1 with $34 million

– Viewers wanting to spend the holidays with a dysfunctional family other than their own helped secure “Little Fockers” the top spot. But even a significant boost on Christmas Day couldn’t keep the comedy from underperforming, pulling in $34 million over the weekend and taking its five-day cume up to $48 million. Little Fockers led the box office over the three-day Christmas weekend, taking in a healthy $34 million, according to studio estimates. The third installment of the Fockers franchise raked in an estimated $34 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro series of in-law comedy was to earn $34 million over the three-day weekend, and $48.3 million since opening on Wednesday, according to studio estimates Sunday. So which flick brought the most people out of the house and into movie seats? If nothing else, this blustery Christmas weekend showed that revenge, or at least a revenge-fueled Western, is a dish best served cold. Excluding True Grit  and several other awards contenders, domestic results weren’t spectacular for holiday titles, putting intense pressure on the coming week. He said 53% of the audience was under age 30. Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro teaming up for a third time had the most pull, giving Little Fockers the top spot with an estimated $34 million over the weekend, bringing its total since it’s Wednesday debut to $48 million. Christmas weekend box office grosses were down 44% from 2009, although comparisons are virtually impossible because of the holiday falling on a Saturday this year.

True Grit , Joel and Ethan Coen ‘s version of the 1968 Charles Portis novel about a 14-year-old girl who hires a drunken U.S. marshal to track down her father’s killer, also did well this holiday weekend, earning $25.6 million. Twentieth Century Fox’s Christmas Day opener  Gulliver’s Travels   grossed a soft $7.2 million from 2,546 theaters on Saturday and Sunday to come in No. 7 for the weekend. The filmmakers’ previous top debut was “Burn After Reading,” which earned $19 million in its first weekend in 2008.

Still, Little Fockers is blowing every movie away, except when it comes to the previous film, Meet the Fockers , which brought in $46.1 million in it’s opening weekend. “Little Fockers,” which adds kids to the mix, received overwhelmingly bad reviews but still lured moviegoers. Coming in third was TRON: Legacy , the sequel to the 1982 sci-fi cult favorite TRON . Overall, the Focker films have grossed $850 million worldwide. Jeff Bridges is the star of the weekend, with major roles in two of the top five movies. As for Tron: Legacy …well, it’s not exactly the juggernaut Disney may have hoped. In key markets including the U.K., France and Russia, Fockers  came in ahead of sequel Meet the Parents , which opened over the same frame in 2004. The expensive sci-fi flick grossed $20.1 million over the weekend, and the 54 percent drop is a bummer considering this time of year is supposed to be uber-profitable for the box office. In limited release, awards-buzz films did well. “The King’s Speech,” which experienced its first major expansion, received a quite eloquent $4.6 million in 700 theaters, giving it a $6,511 per-screen average.

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