Vince Vaughn's Christmas comedy Fred Claus fared well in its second weekend losing only 35% of its business and grossed an estimated $12M for fourth place. The Warner Bros. title has collected $35.8M in ten days and with the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday session around the corner, could go on to bank $70-80M from North America.

Fox attracted mediocre numbers for its new kidpic Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium which opened in fifth with an estimated $10M from 3,164 sites. The G-rated tale starring Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman averaged a mild $3,168 per theater. Reviews were mostly negative and competing family films from a busy bee and Santa's brother provided ample competition for the target audience.

For the third straight weekend, the Steve Carell dramedy Dan in Real Life enjoyed the smallest drop in the top ten as the Buena Vista release continued to benefit from solid word-of-mouth. The romantic comedy dipped only 25% to an estimated $4.5M in its fourth frame and pushed its total up to $37.1M. A $50M final could result.

The latest offering from the Coen brothers No Country for Old Men expanded into wider release and posted sensational numbers allowing it to enter the top ten at number seven while still only playing in 148 theaters. The R-rated thriller starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin grossed an estimated $3.1M for a scorching $20,932 average lifting the total to $4.9M from limited play. Strong reviews, good word-of-mouth, and a loyal fan following for the filmmaking duo helped to keep Country going strong. On Wednesday, Miramax will go nationwide by widening the pic to about 800 locations giving upscale adult audiences something meaty for the turkey frame. Paramount Vantage co-financed the pic.

Tumbling 57% in its sophomore frame, the political snoozer Lions for Lambs fell to eighth with an estimated $2.9M giving the MGM release a wimpy $11.6M in ten days. Produced for $35M, the Tom Cruise-Robert Redford-Meryl Streep vehicle should end its run with about half its budget in domestic grosses. Poor reviews and off-putting subject matter negated the starpower that the film tried to rely on for commercial success. Redford will have the honor of directing Cruise's lowest-grossing movie since Legend which took in a mere $15.5M in 1986. Factoring in inflation over the superstar's quarter-century career, Lions For Lambs will end up selling the second fewest number of tickets for Tom Cruise beating only 1983's Losin' It which found most of its audience on VHS tapes and late-night cable television airings.

The horror sequel Saw IV fell 53% to an estimated $2.3M in its fourth weekend and lifted its cume to $61.8M. Look for a $66M final gross putting it ahead of Saw's $55.2M from 2004, but behind the $87M of Saw II and the $80.2M of last year's Saw III. Together the four torture flicks will reach $288M in combined domestic grosses with another installment in the works.

It's a rare weekend when Javier Bardem stars in two films that reach the top ten, but the acclaimed actor also saw his romantic drama Love in the Time of Cholera debut in the ten spot with an estimated $1.9M. Panned by critics, the R-rated pic averaged a poor $2,201 from 852 locations for New Line. Thanks to Cholera, the box office has now seen wide releases bow to averages of less than $2,500 during nine of the last ten frames.

Despite mixed reviews from critics, the Nicole Kidman-Jennifer Jason Leigh drama Margot at the Wedding opened to muscular numbers in its platform bow in Manhattan with an estimated $83,000 from two locations for a sizzling $41,465 average. Paramount Vantage will expand the R-rated dysfunctional family drama into 35 theaters in the top dozen markets across North America.

Four films dropped out of the top ten this weekend. Disney's hit family comedy The Game Plan was the top-grossing picture during the September-October corridor and fell 51% to an estimated $1.2M. With a robust $87.4M to date, the sports flick should finish with just over $90M matching The Rock's biggest film in a leading role - $90.5M for 2002's The Scorpion King. Summit's fright flick P2 tumbled 62% in its sophomore session to an estimated $800,000. With a weak $3.6M in ten days, the suspense title should conclude its run with only $5M.

Sony's $30M vampire thriller 30 Days of Night has grossed $39.1M to date and looks headed for a finish of just north of $40M. New Line's John Cusack flop Martian Child crashed 75% to an estimated $465,000 for a $7.2M sum. Don't expect the cume to get much higher than $8M.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $92.4M which was down a troubling 29% from last year when Happy Feet opened in first place with $41.5M; and down a disturbing 45% from 2005 when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire debuted in the top spot with $102.3M.

Author: Gitesh Pandya, www.BoxOfficeGuru.com