Tops at the Box Office: Twilight #1 for third week in a row; Shame scores despite NC-17 rating

1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn pt. 1- $16.9M/$247M
With no new national releases this week, there was little question that Twilight would maintain it's grip for the top spot. It's proven to be too much even for the well-received hit, The Muppets, and it's obvious family geared charms. The last two Twilight films cleared around $700M worldwide, and with Breaking Dawn already at $530M, it will probably come close to matching that.

2. The Muppets- $11.2M/$56.1M
Yikes. A harsh 61% drop means there'll be no Rainbow Connection with Kermit and the top spot. Maybe people weren't as into the film as guys like me thought? It's possible that all of the Muppets fans came out in droves last week, and in the second week we're getting a clearer picture of how much appeal there is? No, I don't think so. I think there's just too much competition for family friendly dollars this time of year, with Hugo and Arthur Christmas hanging around. 
3. Hugo- $7.62M/$25.2M
Martin Scorsese's fairy tale adventure had the second best hold of any film in the Top 10 with a 32% drop, but one also has to factor in that another 560 theaters were added this week. After two weeks that $25M total looks paltry, and with the budget hovering around $150M maybe it wasn't such a smart move to release the film during the most crowded month of the year for genre efforts. To further dampen the issue, the per site average remains low at only $4100, meaning people aren't exactly going out of their way to see it.
4. Arthur Christmas- $7.35M/$25.3M
5. Happy Feet Two- $6M/$51.8M
6. Jack and Jill- $5.5M/$64.3M
7. The Descendants- $5.2M/$18.1M
The Descendants' slow roll out continues, adding another 180 theaters and only dropping 29% from last week. This will be the trend as Alexander Payne's film continues to gain momentum through the awards season. It maintains a hefty $9000 per site average, meaning those who have one of the few theaters showing it are making sure they check it out.
8. Immortals- $4.39M/$75.6M
9. Tower Heist- $4.13M/$70.8M
10. Puss in Boots- $3.05M/$140M

The NC-17 rating didn't hold back Shame from scoring big in limited release. At only 10 theaters the Michael Fassbender/Steve McQueen pairing earned a massive $361,000.