2011's Second-Worst Weekend: 'Breaking Dawn' Threepeats For #1, 'Muppets' #2, Oscar-Buzzed 'Hugo', 'Shame', 'The Artist', 'The Descendants', 'Marilyn' All Strong

Specialty Box Office: December 2-4

SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM : No major studio movies opened. Interesting that 6 of the Top 10 highest-grossing films are PG. But this weekend is looking like $82M, which is neck-and-neck for the  lowest weekend of 2011 (September 9th’s $81M). Deadline begins its closer look at the specialty market. Fox Searchlight’s Shame played in 10 theatres in 6 cities and grossed $361K with a theatre average of $36,118. In a dismal down weekend, the film delivered the highest per-screen average this post-holiday period even with an NC-17 rating. The studio is hoping this Steve McQueen-directed film is receiving enough buzz for a long run through the awards season. Fox Searchlight’s The Descendants sticks the Top 10 despite a low theater count and became the first limited-platform film ever to hit $10M in the first 12 days of release. This Oscar-touted Alexander Payne/George Clooney dramedy expands next Friday into 850 theaters to keep up with continuing demand. The Weinstein Co’s My Week With Marilyn didn’t add theaters but held up well, down only 43% on Friday and 26% on Saturday. Already TWC’s badmouthing of the Oscar competition has begun: “This compares to Descendants which, while down 47% and 24% overall, added 33% more locations (141) theaters, and their actual drop in the existing theaters was down 56% and 37%. Paramount’s Hugo added 44% more theaters (563) and, while their overall drop was down 57% and 24%, their actual drop in the existing theaters was down 62% and 34% for Friday and Saturday. What all this says is that Marilyn is holding in better than the competition and that we have good word of mouth.” [UPDATE: The Weinstein Co’s David Glasser called me strenuously denying that this was ‘badmouthing’ and said this was merely normal box office comping.] The Weinstein Co’s Academy Award Best Picture-heralded The Artist had its best day yet on Saturday in both NY houses. “And while LA took a hit on Friday, it was only down slightly from last week on Saturday with drops of 21% in Hollywood and 11% at the Landmark,” the indie said. “Obviously, we have fantastic WOM on this.” The European Film Awards just wrapped in Berlin, where Magnolia’s Melancholia from the looney Lars von Trier won top prize.

Top 10 highest grossing films:

1. Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Summit) Week 3 [4,046 Theaters]
Friday $5.5M, Saturday $7.2M, Weekend $16.9M (-60%), Cume $247.3M

2. The Muppets (Disney) Week 2 [3,440 Theaters]
Friday $2.7M, Saturday $5.2M, Weekend $11.2M (-63%), Cume $56.1M

3. Hugo 3D (Paramount) Week 2 [1,840 Theaters]
Friday $2M, Saturday $3.4M, Weekend $7.5M (-36%), Cume $25.1M

4. Arthur Christmas 3D (Sony) Week 2 [3,376 Theaters]
Friday $1.6M (-64%), Saturday $3.5M, Weekend $7.3M (-39%), Cume $25.1M

5. Happy Feet 3D (Warner Bros) Week 4 [3,536 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.8M, Weekend $5.8M, Cume $51.6M

6. Jack And Jill (Sony) Week 3 [3,049 Theaters]
Friday $1.5M, Saturday $2.5M, Weekend $5.5M, Cume $64.3M

7. The Descendants (Fox Searchlight) Week 3 [574 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.2M, Weekend $5.2M, Cume $18M

8. Immortals 3D (Relativity) Week 4 [2,627 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.8M, Weekend $4.3M, Cume $75.5M

9. Tower Heist (Universal) Week 5 [2,404 Theaters]
Friday $1.2M, Saturday $1.8M, Weekend $4M, Cume $70.6M

10. Puss In Boots (DreamWorks Anim/Paramount) Week 6 [2,750 Theaters]
Friday $700K, Saturday $1.4M, Weekend $3M, Cume $139.5M

Specialty

Shame (Fox Searchlight) NEW [10 Theaters]
Friday $110K, Saturday $139K, Weekend $361K, Per Screen $36,118

The Dirty Picture (FLM) NEW [48 Theaters]
Friday $76K, Saturday $120K, Weekend $268K, Per Screen $5,583, Cume $268K

Pastorela (Lionsgate) NEW [55 Theaters]
Friday $23K, Saturday $24K, Weekend $65K, Per Screen $1,191, Cume $65K

I Am Singh (Reliance Big Pictures) NEW [54 Theaters]
Friday $7K, Saturday $13K, Weekend $29K, Per Screen $539, Cume $29K

Kinyarwanda (Ind) NEW [9 Theaters]
Friday $8K, Saturday $7K, Weekend $21K, Per Screen $2,344

Answers To Nothing (Roadside Attractions) NEW [21 Theaters]
Friday $5K, Saturday $5K, Weekend $14K, Per Screen $712, Cume $15K

Sleeping Beauty (IFC) NEW [2 Theaters]
Friday $2K, Saturday $3K, Weekend $9K, Per Screen $4,770

Outrage (Magnolia) NEW [2 Theaters]
Friday $2K, Saturday $2K, Weekend $6K, Per Screen $3,080

My Week With Marilyn (The Weinstein Co) Week 2 [244 Theaters]
Friday $344K, Saturday $506K, Weekend $1.1M (-33%), Per Screen $4,836, Cume $3.8M

The Artist (The Weinstein Co) Week 2 (6 Theaters)
Friday $56K, Saturday $88K, Weekend $205K, Per Screen $34,263, Cume $495K

A Dangerous Method (Sony Classics) Week 2 [4 Theaters)
Friday $32K, Saturday $48K, Weekend $122K, Per Screen $30,629, Cume $415K,

Desi Boyz (ERO) Week 2 [103 Theaters]
Friday $55K, Saturday $82K, Weekend $182K, Per Screen $1,768, Cume $996K

Melancholia (Magnolia) Week 4 [110 Theaters]
Friday $72K, Saturday $101K, Weekend $238K, Per Screen $2,170, Cume $1.6M

Like Crazy (Paramount Vantage) Week 6 [152 Theaters]
Friday $84K, Saturday $108K, Weekend $251K, Per Screen $1,654, Cume $2.9M

Margin Call (Roadside Attractions) Week 7 [150 Theaters]
Friday $58K, Saturday $103K, Weekend $217K, Per Screen $1,451, Cume $4.7M

Martha Marcy May Marlene (Fox Searchlight) Week 7 [84 Theaters]
Friday $27K, Saturday $42K, Weekend $95K, Per Screen $1,095, Cume $2.7M

The Skin I Live In (Sony Classics) Week 8 [116 Theaters]
Weekend $165K, Per Screen $1,424, Cume $2.6M,

Take Shelter (Sony Classics) Week 10 [47 Theaters]
Weekend $45K, Per Screen $840, Cume $1.5M,

Midnight In Paris (Sony Classics) Week 29) [305 Theaters]
Friday $78K, Saturday $105K, Weekend $274K, Per Screen $900, Cume $55.9K