The end of 2005 was riding atop great expectations. With three major blockbusters in theaters, the industry was expecting a big rebound from an otherwise really bad year. Harry Potter 4, The Goblet Of Fire (2005) delivered with $252.6M and more to come. With $6M in its fifth weekend, the film has done very well.

The other big film, Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, The (2005) also performed well, albeit below expectations. With $31.8M in its second weekend, the movie now sits at $113.2M. This movie will reach $200M with difficulties if at all.

Finally, the third big movie of this end of year season was expected to be a monster hit, the mother of all blockbusters. King Kong (2005) finished first this weekend, which was expected, but it did so with much less fanfare than expected. With "only" $50.1M over the weekend, and $66.2M since it opened last Wednesday, the movie is not the hit everyone expected. I went to see the movie on Sunday and was completely shocked to find myself in one of the biggest theaters in Manhattan and see maybe 30 or 40 other people in the entire theater! My heart skipped a beat, and my thoughts went for Peter Jackson and the rest of the crew behind the movie. I think people will be happy if the movie reaches $200M, which at this time, is less than certain. We'll have to see what the numbers are over the next few weeks and see if the movie gets some good word of mouth.

For one, i found the movie just OK, a solid B and nothing more. Naomi Watts was fantastic and made the movie for me, more so than Kong himself. But otherwise, the movie was 60mn too long, too indulgent at times, and not as technically impressive as most people seem to have found it to be. I actually found a few scenes not well done at all. Overall, it felt too much like a Special Edition DVD, and not like a tight theatrical release. I hope to write a review for this soon.

Overall though, with Christmas and New Year both falling on weekends, which is never a good thing for the movies, we are not expecting great numbers in the next two weekends. The year will close up not with a bang, but with a whisper. Not good.

Rank	Movie	Weekend Gross	Theater Count	Total Gross	Days
1	King Kong (2005)	$50.1M	3,568	$66.2M	5
2	Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witc... (2005)	$31.8M	3,680	$113.2M	10
3	Family Stone, The (2005)	$12.5M	2,466	$12.5M	3
4	Harry Potter 4, The Goblet Of Fire (2005)	$6M	3,185	$252.6M	31
5	Syriana (2005)	$5.6M	1,775	$22.5M	26
6	Walk The Line (2005)	$3.7M	2,667	$82.6M	31
7	Yours, Mine And Ours (2005)	$3.5M	2,723	$45.2M	26
8	Brokeback Mountain (2005)	$2.5M	69	$3.5M	10
9	Just Friends (2005)	$2.1M	1,882	$29.6M	26
10	Aeon Flux (2005)	$1.8M	2,058	$23.2M	17
11	Pride And Prejudice (2005)	$1.6M	1,141	$29.2M	38
12	Memoirs Of A Geisha (2005)	$1.3M	52	$2.3M	10
13	Polar Express, The (2004)	$1.1M	66	$168.2M	404
14	Chicken Little (2005)	$1.1M	1,602	$128.8M	45
15	Rent (2005)	$752.1K	926	$28.3M	26
16	Derailed (2005)	$368.9K	547	$35.4M	38
17	Good Night And Good Luck (2005)	$341.9K	322	$22.4M	73
18	Capote (2005)	$301.5K	193	$10.8M	80
19	Squid And The Whale, The (2005)	$218.1K	132	$4.3M	75
20	In The Mix (2005)	$211.7K	348	$10.1M	26
	For the top 20 movies:	$126.8M	29,402	$1.1B