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Next weekend will be all sorts of chaos as Avatar](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/12/11/avatar-review/) – which many early reviews, including ours, have regarded as legitimately spectacular – makes its mega-wide-release bow, with only Did You Hear About the Morgans?](Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009) - Movie | Moviefone) as counter-programming. (If anyone wants to take a stab at predicting an opening weekend number, please do; the issue of 3D theaters makes this a little tricky, but I’m going with $130 million.) This weekend was correspondingly quiet, with only the expansion of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/12/11/review-the-princess-and-the-frog/) and the debut of Clint Eastwood’s Invictus](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/12/11/invictus-review/) to cover.
After a teaser release on just a couple screens, The Princess and the Frog went wide this weekend and came up with $25 million, which is just a bit stronger than Disney’s last major “traditional” animation release, Brother Bear](Brother Bear (2003) - Movie | Moviefone), six years ago. (Of course opening weekend standards are a bit different now, too.) I expected a heftier debut, but the movie is likely to stick around for a while, especially as good word-of-mouth spreads, and since it probably won’t take too much of a hit from Avatar.
$9 million for Invictus is pretty much on the money; that’s exactly the business that Changeling](Changeling (2008) - Movie | Moviefone) did a couple years ago, and Invictus has the same sort of prestige appeal. (I don’t think anyone expected Invictus to replicate the performance of Eastwood’s crowdpleaser Gran Torino](Gran Torino (2009) - Movie | Moviefone).) It’s a lukewarm number, which may be a sign that the movie isn’t going to soar, Oscar-wise, though of course it’s always foolish to count out Clint.
Speaking of Oscars,The Blind Side](http://www.cinematical.com/2009/11/20/review-the-blind-side/)hit $150 million this weekend, and I’m starting to wonder if it might not sneak into the Best Picture 10, somewhat against the odds (Sandra Bullock certainly has a decent shot at a nom). And*Up in the Air* continues to perform exceptionally well in limited release – and has also started topping some Oscar prognosticators’ lists.
The chart after the jump.
Continue reading Weekend Box Office: ‘Princess and the Frog’ Wins in the Pre-‘Avatar’ Calm