All I Want for Christmas … Is My Movie Premiere

Christmas Day usually consists of opening gifts, preparing food and mingling with family. For the entertainment industry, Christmas means promoting movies, releasing trailers and setting up interviews with the stars.

The trailers come across the screen every other minute and subliminally let the viewer know that a movie is what needs to go along with Christmas dessert. With all the movies that will be released during the holiday season, fans are torn over whether to go to the movies on Christmas Eve or the next day. For some people, this is a tradition that cuts into family time.

“I think it takes away from bonding, because you’re focused on a movie and that’s not really bonding with each other,” says recent college graduate and moviegoer Blair Cooper.

Film lover Jasmine Silas says: “Holiday movies aren’t that lucrative to me, but do increase family bonding. Around the holidays you’re surrounded by your family so you’re more likely to go to the movies or participate in other activities during the holidays with them.”

Despite the controversy, movies seem to thrive in opening ticket sales during the the annual holiday season, which officially starts in theaters on the first weekend of November.

In 2012, “Les Miserables” and “Django: Unchained” were neck and neck in ticket sales on Christmas Day. “Les Miserables” opened with $18.1 million, and “Django: Unchained” opened with $15 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

The highest-grossing film on Christmas was “Sherlock Holmes” at $24.6 million in 2009, followed by “Avatar” at $23 million during the same year. By comparison, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” had the highest non-holiday, opening day at $91 million.

This year, the forerunners for highest-grossing holiday season box office are projected to be “Thor: The Dark World,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”

These sequels are expected to bring in $800 million collectively during the holiday season. “Thor: The Dark World” premiered on Nov. 8 in 3,841 locations and earned $85.7 million opening weekend, a 30 percent increase over the first “Thor” movie, which opened with $181 million. The original “Hunger Games” debuted at $152.5 million, and “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” opened with $84.6 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

The Twitter world is excited about the holiday releases:

#ThorDarkWorld is out of this world!! Awe-some!!! O.M.G!!! I don't know what else to say! Supercalifragilisticexpialidociously amazing! WOW!

— edna lina (@edna_lina23) November 19, 2013

Alongside the fan favorites are “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “Grudge Match.”

https://twitter.com/ChrisPurvisIndy/statuses/409029827853697024

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” has Ben Stiller as the star and director of the movie. With the comedic genius of Stiller and Kristen Wiig (“Bridesmaids”), it’s a comedy must-see. The movie is rated PG, which is a plus, but it is still questionable whether this film is a family movie. Ray Subers, movie critic at Box Office Mojo, suggests that the movie and may not be for children, because it has “heavy elements.”

“The Wolf of Wall Street” starring Leonardo DiCaprio was recently pushed back and added to the Christmas Day lineup, because of production issues. Director Martin Scorsese is believed to have a strong drama on his hands that might not go well with the Christmas spirit of movie-goers. Although DiCaprio takes lead, only time can tell how viewers will receive the film. Lastly, “Grudge Match” stars heavy-hitters Robert DeNiro, Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Hart.

I think #stallone's life long mission is to convince the world he's actually a real boxer… its working #grudgematchmovie #rocky

— Mike Hush (@MikeHush) December 2, 2013

Although movies seem to thrive on Christmas, some people are still split on whether it is the right day to go to the movies, but not college student Sierra Dennis.

“I believe holiday movies are lucrative, because it’s the time of year family and friends are together and they make movie going a group event.”