(From left) Actresses Anika Noni Rose, Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson are shown in a scene from their film 'Dreamgirls' in this undated publicity photograph. 'Dreamgirls' received five Golden Globe nominations, on December 14, including best comedy or musical motion picture, best actress in a comedy or musical motion picture nomination for Beyoncé Knowles, best supporting actress nomination for Jennifer Hudson and best original song motion picture for 'Listen.' The awards presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, will be telecast live on January 15, 2007, from Beverly Hills. - REUTERS
LOS ANGELES (Reuters):
Big-screen musical movie Dreamgirls took the Christmas Day box office by storm, grossing nearly $9 million its first day in theatres across North America, according to studio figures issued on Tuesday.
The movie adaptation of the hit Broadway show loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes, generated ticket sales of $8.7 million as it expanded on Monday to a national roll-out in 852 theatres from an early run in just three venues.
The tally was enough to land Dreamgirls, a Paramount Pictures release, at No. 2 in the Christmas Day box office race, just behind the top-ranked Ben Stiller comedy Night at the Museum, which took in $11.8 million on Monday from four times as many theatres.
Added to the receipts collected during its limited engagement last week at $25 a ticket, Dreamgirls finished the holiday weekend with a cumulative gross of $9.5 million.
"This thing has been generating big numbers from the moment it opened," said Paul Dergarabedian, head of the box office tracking service Media By Numbers.
By comparison, in 2002 another big-screen version of a Broadway musical, Chicago, amassed $9.2 million through its second weekend after expanding from 77 theaters over the Christmas weekend to 304 theaters in its second outing.
The Muhammad Ali boxing drama Ali holds the record for the biggest Christmas Day opening, grossing $10.2 million from 2,446 theaters on December 25, 2001, according to Media By Numbers.
Seven nominations
Starring Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Beyoncé Knowles and newcomer Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls scored seven nominations this month for the Broadcast Film Critics Association awards and five nominations for the Golden Globes, making it a serious contender for the film industry's highest honours, the Oscars.
In the Friday-through-Monday box office rankings, Dreamgirls grossed $8.9 million, landing it at Number 7 for the long holiday weekend.
Night at the Museum was Number 1 with $42.2 million in ticket sales.
Other new wide releases included the Sylvester Stallone boxing comeback Rocky Balboa at Number 3 with $17 million, the Robert De Niro-directed spy drama The Good Shepherd at Number 4 with $13.9 million and football melodrama We Are Marshall at Number 8 with a lacklustre $8.6 million.
Last weekend's top-ranked film, Will Smith's inspirational drama The Pursuit of Happyness, dropped to Number 2 over the holiday weekend with $23.1 million. Charlotte's Web ranked fifth in its second weekend, followed by the dragon adventure Eragon at Number 6.
