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The debuts of Yes Man, Seven Pounds and The Tale of Despereaux were modest by past standards, but the holdovers were part of the box office malaise as well, due to age or to not being very big in the first place. Falling into the latter category, The Day the Earth Stood Still collapsed in its second weekend as movies of its ilk often do, including last December's blockbuster I Am Legend. Down 68 percent, the science fiction remake grossed $9.9 million for $48.4 million in ten days. Its drop was in the same range as The Matrix Revolutions and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer among similar movies (though both had much higher grosses).

The continued dearth of broadly-appealing or event pictures meant little was stirring on the weekend before Christmas, not even a mouse. The relatively soft debuts of Yes Man, Seven Pounds and The Tale of Despereaux comprised the Top Three, and overall business was down precipitously from the norm. The disparity is amplified when considering the last times this weekend fell on Dec. 19-21: 2003, which was the first weekend of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and 1997, which saw the openings of Titanic and Tomorrow Never Dies. Jim CarreyWill Smith

The pre-Christmas weekend sees three different kinds of pictures debut nationwide. Jim Carrey comedy Yes Man has the most saturated release with approximately 5,100 screens at 3,434 theaters. Animated mouse adventure The Tale of Despereaux catapults onto around 3,600 screens at 3,104 theaters, and Will Smith drama Seven Pounds coasts onto over 3,600 screens at 2,758 theaters. The Day the Earth Stood Still remains the largest release with approximately 5,500 screens at 3,560 sites, while Four Christmases has around 4,000 screens at 3,515. Additionally, Slumdog Millionaire expands to nearly 700 screens at 589 venues, up from 260 screens at 169 venues last weekend. Tom HanksGabriele Muccino

A sluggish start from The Day the Earth Stood Still kept the status quo at the foreign box office at a time when business normally picks up. While the science fiction remake has yet to open in Australia, Brazil, Japan and South Korea, its $38.6 million start from 57 markets was modest by event picture standards. In many territories, it was either second to Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa or to local movies. Day joins several high profile movies this year that remained on par with their domestic runs. Over the past decade, it had become common for heavily marketed releases to double or even triple their domestic grosses. Domestic duds like Kingdom of Heaven, Poseidon and The Golden Compass flourished overseas. This year, pictures such as Max Payne, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Eagle Eye and now The Day the Earth Stood Still have been average at best.

Rushing to capitalize on the success of Twilight, distributor Summit Entertainment staked out a release date for the sequel. New Moon, based on the second book of the four-novel series by Stephenie Meyer, is scheduled to be unleashed on Nov. 20, 2009. That's the same pre-Thanksgiving weekend timeframe that Twilight debuted on, and follows a pattern set forth by other fantastical fan favorites, such as the Harry Potter series. Chris WeitzCatherine HardwickeKristen StewartAnthony HopkinsRobert Downey Jr.Jude Law

While The Day the Earth Stood Still's uneventful opening contributed to a down weekend overall, several holdovers saw only modest declines. By virtue of its Christmas theme and status as the only broad family comedy in the market, Four Christmases eased 22 percent in its third weekend to $13.1 million. Its tally is a toasty $87.8 million in 19 days. Clint Eastwood

This is typically the timeframe where the December box office starts to pick up, but it stalled this year due to a paucity of enticing new releases. The opening of intended event picture, science fiction remake The Day the Earth Stood Still, paled compared to the sci-fi remake that opened on the same weekend last year, I Am Legend, and overall business was down more than 40 percent.

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A thirteen territory expansion for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa rejuvenated the foreign box office after a month of slowing business. The animated sequel raked in $51.4 million from 33 markets and had openings that were light years ahead of its predecessor, with few exceptions. Highlights included Germany ($11.3 million), the United Kingdom ($9.3 million) and France ($9.5 million), doubling the first Madagascar's debut. Outside of Europe, Madagascar 2 was impressive as well, such as in Mexico ($4.5 million) and Peru ($631,118), and has amassed a colossal $40.6 million in Russia. Its $126.8 million total is already one third of the first Madagascar's final tally.

The weekend's most prominent new release, Punisher: War Zone, had a pitiful start, grossing $4.3 million on around 2,700 screens at 2,508 theaters. It was the smallest opening ever for a Marvel Comics adaptation by far, even lower than Howard the Duck, and was a quarter of the previous Punisher movie's opening in terms of attendance.

It was leftovers again for the post-Thanksgiving weekend. The timeframe typically represents a hiccup in the holiday season, when holdovers tumble yet still dominate and the few new releases are weak. This time overall business was particularly soft, following suit from the Thanksgiving session to hit a ten-year low in terms of attendance. Not helping matters were new releases whose receipts were skimpier than usual, including an anemic debut for Punisher: War Zone.

Last weekend, Twilight's opening was over two and half times the size of Bolt's . Over the three-day Thanksgiving weekend, their grosses were neck-and-neck. Bolt maintained the same level of business as its opening, while Twilight fell precipitously. The diverging paths speak to the kinds of movies they are: family movies play strongly on Thanksgiving, while movies with excited fan bases or that are part of the vampire sub-genre burn through much of their demand in their first weeks.

Four Christmases visited the top spot, bearing solid numbers, but Thanksgiving weekend as a whole lulled to a ten-year low in terms of attendance, coming in slightly below last year. Other than the commercially well-trodden comedy of Four Christmases, Thanksgiving also saw the openings of two modestly appealing titles, the ambitious Australia and the unambitious Transporter 3. Contributing to the down weekend was the flame-out of last weekend's top grosser, Twilight. Reese WitherspoonVince VaughnNicole KidmanHugh JackmanJason Statham

Holdovers took a hit over the weekend opposite Twilight and Bolt, including big guns Quantum of Solace and Madagasacr: Escape 2 Africa. Quantum fell a steep 60 percent to $26.7 million, a second weekend that was less than its opening day. The Bourne Ultimatum, which opened to a similar number, was off less than 53 percent at the same point and had a $131.6 million ten-day tally versus Quantum's $108.8 million. Other recent James Bond movies had holidays in their second weekends, rendering them incomparable for percentage drops, but Casino Royale was at $94.1 million at the ten-day mark and Die Another Day had $101.4 million (or over $123 million adjusted for ticket price inflation).

The pre-Thanksgiving weekend saw the dawn of a hit literary-based franchise in Twilight, instead of the continuation of a literary-based blockbuster series, since Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince's departure from the date to next summer. Between the openings of Twilight and Bolt and significant holdovers Quantum of Solace and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, the overall box office was up over the comparable pre-Thanksgiving timeframes from 2007 and 2006. However, it was down from 2005 when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opened. Chris EvansDakota FanningAlex ProyasNicolas Cage

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince may have exited the pre-Thanksgiving weekend for warmer climes, but two sizable pictures filled the vacancy. Vampire romance Twilight flits onto around 6,000 screens at 3,419 theaters, while computer-animated comedy Bolt zips onto approximately 5,300 screens at 3,651 theaters. Holdover Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remains the widest release on around 6,100 screens at 4,007 venues, and last weekend's top grosser, Quantum of Solace, holds onto around 5,800 screens at 3,458 venues. Brad Pitt

Quantity doesn't propel the box office as Quantum of Solace, the sole new nationwide release of the weekend, showed. With overall business at $148.5 million, the weekend had higher attendance than the comparable timeframes of the past three years, when there were a greater number of new titles.

Propelled by a fantastic showing from Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, the Holiday season launched with slightly higher attendance than in 2007 and 2006, though it trailed the season's starts for 2001 through 2005. With the subsequent scheduling of another event picture, Quantum of Solace, Holiday business may not experience the second weekend lull of the past few years, when weaker titles were released. Will FerrellSeth RogenPaul Rudd

In a particularly weak Halloween weekend, High School Musical 3: Senior Year bled 64 percent yet still held onto the top spot. Halloween landed on a Friday this year and overall attendance was down around 27 percent from the last time that happened in 2003. One has to go back to 1998 to find a worse Halloween weekend. Kevin SmithSeth RogenClint EastwoodAngelina Jolie