Friday Report: 'Harry Potter,' 'Tangled' Dominate
On Friday, families were out in force as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Tangled commanded the box office with a potent one-two punch, followed by Megamind in a distant third. Burlesque, Love and Other Drugs and Faster each posted modest numbers, and overall Friday business was in the ballpark of the same Friday last year when The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Blind Side led.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 pulled in an estimated $20.75 million, down 66 percent from last Friday. Its drop was more extreme than the last Thanksgiving Potter, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which was off 43 percent. Tallying $190.8 million in eight days, though, the penultimate Potter boasted the top-grossing eight-day launch of the series, passing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince's $185 million, and it has gained ground on New Moon, which had $205.8 million by day eight. However, in terms of estimated attendance, Deathly Hallows Part 1 ranked fifth in its franchise, behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Goblet of Fire, Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Tangled unfurled with an estimated $19.7 million on approximately 5,400 screens at 3,603 locations, lifting its sum to $39.7 million in three days. That exceeded the three-day start of Walt Disney Pictures' last Thanksgiving princess event, Enchanted, which had generated $29 million at the same point.

Megamind rode the post-Thanksgiving family surge back to third place after being dislodged on Wednesday and Thursday. It generated an estimated $5.25 million, increasing its total to $122.9 million in 22 days. Its Thanksgiving pattern has hewed closely to Chicken Little among past similar titles. Unstoppable came in fourth with an estimated $4.6 million, and, with $53.6 million in 15 days, it has chugged past The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3's 15-day haul.

In fifth place, Burlesque collected an estimated $4.5 million on around 3,500 screens at 3,037 locations for a $9.85 million three-day start. Its pattern over the last two days has been comparable to Rent, the last major musically-oriented Thanksgiving release, albeit with less attendance.

Few were high on Love and Other Drugs, which took in an estimated $3.8 million on close to 2,700 screens at 2,455 locations, tallying $7.95 million in three days. There are no recent direct Thanksgiving antecedents to compare it to, but, among other releases, it appears to be in the low range of such titles as Love Happens, Catch and Release and A Lot Like Love.

Meanwhile, Faster was off to a slow start, grossing an estimated $3.2 million on over 2,700 screens at 2,454 locations for a $6.7 million three-day sum. It trailed recent Thanksgiving action pictures Ninja Assassin, Transporter 3 and Hitman by a wide margin, and it's shaping up as a new low for actor Dwayne "Dwayne Johnson" Johnson.

Related Chart

Grosses for Friday, Nov. 26