Family Box Office Weekend

The Hollywood Reporter handicaps the weekend box office, putting "The Santa Clause 3," in the win position, "Flushed Away" to place, and (perhaps) "Borat" to show. (Of course, there is always the question of how the horror flick "Saw" holds up. Usually, gore-fests make a big red splash their opening weekend, then send out tiny little ripples)...

Update #1: Holy Jeebus. "Borat" takes the top prize with $9 million-plus. (This, on 837 screens). "Flushed Away" lands at #4 with 4.6 million.

Unsurprisingly, "Open Season" drops to #11. Hard to do otherwise with two new family films entering the steeple chase.

Sunday Update: In a major surprise, Borat crushed the competition with an estimated $26.4 million weekend estimate. We're sure that will be the big story on Monday, and most will likely miss the news that Flushed Away performed far above the forcasts, finishing in a dead heat for second with $19.1 million (essentially tied with Santa Clause 3, at $20 million). Compare the Flushed opening with the $17.5 mill (and $106.8 total) for Chicken Run and $16 mill (and $56.1 total) for Wallace and Gromit. The rat movie might just be the most successful of the Aardman films released here.

As for the other animated features in the marketplace, Open Season saw a 47% decline, landing at #9 with an $81.4 million total. (This is the biggest percentage drop, week to week, that the film has suffered.)

And Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas dropped 56%, landing at #20 with a $7.5 million total. (The flick's per screen average is still respectable, since it's on only 168 screens.)