Bulgarian Box Office Update - Weekend 23-26 December

Puss definitely knows how to court viewers

Supported by the Christmas holidays, the two new proposals of the week register strong results and take the lead of the box office chart this weekend. Expectedly, Puss in Boots comes first with BGN 221,344 for the weekend, and BGN 313,607 including previews. The excellent performance is first due to the strong brand awareness (everyone knows who Puss is, either via Shrek or via the Charles Perrault fairytale) and second to the fact that many parents found time to bring their children to the multiplexes during the holiday time. Curiously, the results of Puss in Boots make the movie the third most successful debut of animation in Bulgaria's recent cinema history, just after Ice Age 3 and Shrek 4. 

At #2 Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows conjures up BGN 143,515 for the weekend, and BGN 223,836 including previews. In comparison the first instalment started with BGN 317,854, but we should take into account the strong Puss competition and by the looks of it, the strong word-of-mouth will eventually bring the Guy Ritchie film to a success.

Last week's winner, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol slips with the okay 33% to #3 and with BGN 420,559 so far has already doubled the final results of Mission Impossible 3. Oh, how times and distribution changes here...

Supported by the forthcoming holiday and the all star cast, New Year's Eve registers a fall of just 13%. It has stolen BGN 191,445 so far.

The arrival of Christmas didn't do any good to Arthur Christmas as, hurt by the Cat, the movie bleeds 42% and has BGN 341,332 in total.

And the rest of the top ten:

#6. Happy Feet - a fall of 48%, a total of BGN 186,224

#7. Jack and Jill - a fall of 4%, a total of BGN 128,943 

#8. Operaciq Shmenti Kapeli - a fall of 20%, a total of BGN 1,108,780

#9. Immortals - a fall of 75%, a total of BGN 866,806

#10. Twilight - a fall of 50%, a total of BGN 537,463

The top ten is left this weekend by Bulgarian disappointment Something More About Love. The film has made the meagre BGN 18,849 for two weeks and can be considered as one of the biggest BG flops for the last few years. At the same time Machine Gun Preacher retreats with a total of BGN 81,420, which means that after all there is an audience for independent titles. So, let's wish the Bulgarian distributors bring more of them in 2012!

Compared to my last week projections, both Puss and Holmes surpassed them considerably. 

Next weekend's projections:

One Day - BGN 15,000

Ronal The Barbarian - BGN 11,000, including previews

(BGN 1 = USD 0.69/EUR 0.51)