Hooray Movies!

This holiday weekend was the best ever for movie box offices and the previous record was shattered. Of course, the story makes no mention that ticket prices are higher now than ever, so, take it was grain of salt on your popcorn … Sorry, that wasn’t funny.

The three-day holiday weekend, also the last weekend of the year, was a boon for Hollywood. Box offices raked in $263 million, shattering the previous year’s record of $253.6 million over the summer weekend The Dark Knight was released. Avatar, which is still only showing in 3-D, continued to lead the pack, and Sherlock Holmes opened to a solid $65.4 million, above industry expectations. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel benefited from the kid-friendly time of year, taking in $50.2 million. “When the third-place movie is at $50 million, it’s usually a pretty good sign that you’re going to break some records,” noted a Fox executive. Rounding out the top openers was Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin’s It’s Complicated, which came in a far fourth at $22.1 million. (The Wrap)

I went and saw Up in the Air. I guarantee I had a better time than the $50.2 million worth of idiots who saw The Squeakquel.