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Black Christmas (2006)

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Box-office Blahs at Christmas
26 December 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Like the holiday stockings hanging at the fireplace, the Christmas box office turned out to be pretty much a mixed bag. Although some studios revised their estimates for the Friday-to-Sunday period, they did not release final figures nor estimates for Monday, Christmas Day, when two new films, the horror flick Black Christmas and the musical Dreamgirls, were added to the mix. There were no break-out hits. The debut of the Ben Stiller comedy Night at the Museum led the list with $30.9 million over the three-day period, in line with analysts' predictions but well off Stiller's best opening: $46.1 million for Meet the Fockers in 2004. Sylvester Stallone's return as Rocky Balboa after 16 years, did OK business with about $12.2 million, after earning $9.7 million on Wednesday and Thursday, as it finished in third place -- a performance that would seem to indicate that audiences were not as impressed with Stallone's comeback as the critics were. Will Smith's The Pursuit of Happyness dropped to second place with $14.9 million, 43 percent below its opening take a week ago. The biggest drop, however, was registered by the fantasy flick Eragon, which plunged 70 percent in its second weekend to $7.1 million, to place sixth. Another new film, We Are Marshall, failed to attract an audience, as it opened with just $6 million. Playing in just five theaters, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima debuted with $89,000, an average of $17,800 per theater.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Night at the Museum, 20th Century Fox, $30,880,000, (New); 2. The Pursuit of Happyness, Sony, $14,874,000, 2 Wks. ($53,304,000); 3. Rocky Balboa, MGM, $12,220,999, (New); 4. The Good Shepherd, Universal, $9,925,000, (New); 5. Charlotte's Web, Paramount, $7,693,000, 2 Wks. ($26,530,000); 6. Eragon, 20th Century Fox, $7,101,000, 2 Wks. ($37,596,000); 7. We Are Marshall, Warner Bros. $6,080,000, (New); 8. The Nativity Story, New Line, $5,198,000, 4 Wks. ($32,512,000); 9. Happy Feet, Warner Bros. $5,131,000, 6 Wks. ($159,099,000); 10. The Holiday, Paramount, $4,877,000, 3 Wks. ($34,977,000).

Christian Groups Fume Over Christmas Horror Film
18 December 2006 (WENN)
Christian groups have slammed the remake of cult 1974 movie Black Christmas, because they find the horror movie "offensive." The Glen Morgan-directed film stars Oliver Hudson, Katie Cassidy, Lacey Chabert and Michelle Trachtenberg and centers on a group of US college students who battle a slasher over the Christmas holidays. The movie will be released on Christmas Day in US cinemas, much to the horror of Christian groups. Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, says, "To have a movie that emphasizes murder and mayhem at Christmas, a time of celebration and joy around the world seems to be ill founded." Jennifer Giroux, co-founder of Operation Just Say Merry Christmas, adds, "The use of religious music 'Silent Night' and the nativity set on the front porch in one scene are insensitive to Christians. It's not enough to ignore and omit Christmas, but now it has to be offended, insulted and desecrated. Our most sacred holiday, actually a holy day, is being assaulted."

Faith-Based Horror Film for Christmas?
11 December 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Only days after they had announced they were forming a new company to distribute faith-based movies, Bob and Harvey Weinstein said that they intend to open a slasher movie called Black Christmas on Christmas Day. On her website, L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke commented: "And the entertainment industry wonders why it continues to have a huge PR problem as promoters of garbage? Showbiz marketing calls this counter-programming. Still, I don't understand: just how many disturbed human beings does The Weinstein Company and MGM think actually want to go see a gory movie on December 25th?"