Millions of Americans went shopping for comedy this weekend, giving the star-studded “Meet the Fockers” the record for the best single Christmas Day box office take. The sequel, reuniting Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro and adding Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Stiller’s parents, earned $44.7 million over the holiday weekend according to studio estimates.
“Meet the Fockers” knocked last week’s top film “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” to third place, with $12.5 million. Second place was taken by the live-action version of “Fat Albert,” which debuted Saturday with a two-day total of $12.7 million, according to studio estimates.
“Meet the Fockers” succeeded in part because of an aggressive ad campaign, including the release of the DVD of the original “Meet the Parents” as well as the return of Streisand to the big screen after an eight-year absence.
It also captured the clash between families, which resonates at the holidays.
“It’s a clash of cultures,” said Marc Shmuger, vice chairman of Universal Pictures. “It’s about the coming together of completely different families, but that’s exactly what the world is going through right now.”
“Meet the Fockers” opened Wednesday, bringing its five-day total to $68.5 million.
Source: yahoo
