After a $142 million haul in its opening weekend - tops so far in 2009 - "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" should still have plenty of an audience to propel it to a second straight weekend as the number one box office draw. PG comedy "Old Dogs" from distributor Buena Vista is the widest new release of the weekend and should benefit from being aimed at family audiences following Thanksgiving. Animated "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" will reach little more than 2,000 theaters and R-rated action film "Ninja Assassin" should hit roughly 2,500 theaters, though neither one should make a huge splash due to an overall bevy of popular titles currently in theaters.
Even with a set of new releases, "New Moon" continues to be the box office story of the year. In less than a full week in theaters, "New Moon" has already eclipsed $300 million worldwide and cemented "The Twilight Saga" as one of the biggest draws over the last few years. The domestic totals of "New Moon" are also right on par with "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," which is currently the top domestic grosser of the year at $402 million. With the fanfare of "New Moon," there is a legitimate possibility it could overtake "Revenge of the Fallen" on the domestic charts, though James Cameron's "Avatar" is also expected to post huge domestic figures following its Dec. 18 release.
With a production budget of only $50 million, "New Moon" is among the cheapest mega-blockbusters in recent history. The last time a release had a budget of under $60 million and landed atop the domestic charts for the year was all the back in 1994, when "Forrest Gump" did exactly that with a budget of only $55 million; the only release this decade with a production budget under $100 million to top the yearly domestic charts was "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," which cost $94 million. "New Moon" should continue its tremendous success and could haul in another $60 million over the weekend, placing it far ahead of the other new titles.
As the widest new release of the weekend, the John Travolta and Robin Williams comedy "Old Dogs" is in the best position to appeal to the plethora of family audiences that typically are around following Thanksgiving. "Old Dogs" is also from the director of "Wild Hogs," which John Travolta also starred in back in 2007. "Wild Hogs" was a smash commercial success, hauling in $168 million domestically and $253 million worldwide from distributor Buena Vista.
With "Old Dogs" also getting distributed by Buena Vista, "Old Dogs" is in good position to have success in both domestic and foreign markets. It is unlikely, however, that "Old Dogs" can reach the $39 million that "Wild Hogs" earned its opening weekend due to a substantial amount of overall competition in a variety of genres. Look for "Old Dogs" to post a solid opening weekend somewhere in the $20 to $25 million range.
Animated "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" will provide some competition for "Old Dogs" as it expands to more than 2,000 venues this weekend and carries a PG rating. From director Wes Anderson ("The Royal Tenenbaums," "The Darjeeling Limited"), "Mr. Fox" has a top-notch cast that includes George Clooney and Meryl Streep, which should help it appeal to adult audiences. Still, with a relatively limited release and strong competition, it's unlikely that "Mr. Fox" will be able to push past $15 million in its first wide weekend.
With an R-rating, "Ninja Assassin" appears to be at a significant disadvantage in a weekend that is typically dominated by family audiences. An R-rated release hasn't opened in the top three during the weekend following Thanksgiving since 2001, when action/thriller "Spy Game" opened with mediocre success. "Ninja Assassin" will provide an alternative for some of the adult demographic, but a weekend intake in the $13 to $16 million range seems likely at this point.
Next weekend, a series of new releases open in the 2,000-theater range, including thriller "Armored," drama "Brothers" and comedy "Everybody's Fine." Horror-comedy "Translymania" also gets a wide release, though the total amount of theaters has not been specified to this point.
RTT Box Office Predictions For 11/27 - 11/29 in millions:
1) The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit Entertainment): $60
2) Old Dogs (Buena Vista): $26
3) The Blind Side (Warner Brothers): $21
4) The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox): $15
5) Ninja Assassin (Warner Brothers): $14
6) 2012 (Sony/Columbia): $12
7) Precious (Lionsgate): $8
8) A Christmas Carol (Buena Vista): $6.5
9) Planet 51 (Sony/Columbia): $6
10) The Men Who Stare At Goats (Overture): $1.7
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.