This weekend’s box office performance is every bit as disappointing as the week prior. The lone national release was the Gerard Butler-Jessica Biel romantic comedy Playing for Keeps which we expected to perform ‘okay’ if it was not for the film’s critical reception. The movie about a sports star turned little league coach on a path to redemption failed to impress as the feature currently wears a 2% score on the aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes, classifying it as possibly the worst film of the entire year.
That said, we are looking at a top three that is very similar to three weekends’ ago. The mix has changed, but the trio of Skyfall, Twilight, and Lincoln remains dominant. Bond 23 was the only one of that lot capable of eight-figures for the three-day thus why it has usurped Breaking Dawn 2 for the top spot. Some are surprised, but I would argue that those people probably were not paying attention to the scale of regression for Breaking Dawn 2. This says less about Skyfall’s persistence than it does the ability of its younger-skewing competition to bring in receipts after launch.
Here is the top ten for December 7-9, 2012.
1. Skyfall - $3.1 M Friday, $11.0 M Weekend
2. Rise of the Guardians - $2.3 M Friday, $10.5 M Weekend
3. Breaking Dawn 2 - $2.8 M Friday, $9.2 M Weekend
4. Lincoln - $2.6 M Friday, $9.1 M Weekend
5. Life of Pi - $2.3 M Friday, $8.3 M Weekend
6. Playing for Keeps - $2.1 M Friday, $6.0 M Weekend
7. Wreck-It Ralph - $1.2 M Friday, $4.9 M Weekend
8. Red Dawn - $1.3 M Friday, $4.3 M Weekend
9. Flight - $0.9 M Friday, $3.1 M Weekend
10. Killing Them Softly - $0.9 M Friday, $2.8 M Weekend
Playing for Keeps star Gerard Butler continued his press tour at Ellen this morning. Not much of the appearance has showed up online just yet, but the actor did have a pretty decent talk show anecdote this time out. He told a story about how he was road tripping recently after shooting Olympus Has Fallen where he ran into a dentist that shares his name: Dr. Gerry Butler. It is good stuff, so check it out if you are a fan. 
Gerard Butler has a new movie coming out–a rom-com called Playing for Keeps. The film has the actor starring alongside Jessica Biel and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and it pretty much has a monopoly on the genre for a while so we do not expect it to flop as bad as his surfer movie from October. Last night, Butler visited The Tonight Show where Jay Leno admitted to liking his newest effort which might not mean a whole lot; however, you should still check the appearance out if you are at all interested because the feature is a small topic of conversation. The actor also dished on a celebrity soccer game he participated in versus Manchester United. 
Still out promoting Playing for Keeps, Jessica Biel will be on Ellen this coming Monday marking yet another appearance for the actress. Once again, she talks about her recent marriage to Justin Timberlake and what that means to her, but she also plays a game with the daytime talk show host. This one has the two competing to stack packages higher than the other. Whether this will make her new rom-com with Gerard Butler perform amazing at the box office is anyone’s guess although it is worth the view for any fans of the Seventh Heaven alumna. 
Opening this December is a little sports dramedy starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel. The Gabriele Muccino-directed film is called Playing for Keeps and it centers around a divorced former soccer player who is on the path to redemption which is riddled with roadblocks that include gorgeous soccer moms who have the hots for him. The choice at hand? Being a good father or Catherine Zeta-Jones. Tough decision.