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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘Fockers’ sets record for box-office take on Christmas Day

Patty Rhule USA Today

Moviegoers were only too happy to “Meet the Fockers” this holiday, giving it the biggest Christmas Day box-office take ever.

“Fockers” was the weekend’s No. 1 film with $44.7 million, including $19.1 million on Christmas Day, according to studio estimates. That tops the $14 million record set by “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” last year.

The Ben Stiller-Robert DeNiro comedy about a man and his fiancée bringing their very different parents together was a sequel to 2000’s smash hit “Meet the Parents,” which took in a total of $166.2 million.

“Meet the Fockers,” which opened last Wednesday, earned $68.5 million through its first five days in theaters.

“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 Barbra 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.”

Bringing in Streisand and Dustin Hoffman as Stiller’s parents for the sequel was a worthwhile investment, said Gitesh Pandya of boxofficeguru.com.

“People feel it’s worth the money, that there’s something new here,” Pandya said. “People want cheery upbeat movies at Christmas. That allowed it to just destroy all expectations.”

Among the weekend’s other new releases, “Fat Albert” took a distant second place with $12.7 million while “Darkness” was No. 6 with $6.3 million.

The previous weekend’s top film, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” dropped to third place with $12.5 million. But it will continue to hold up this week with children on holiday break and still is expected to bring in $100 million, Pandya said, continuing star Jim Carrey’s streak.

Some Academy Awards hopefuls had strong weekend showings as they expanded into more theaters across the country.

“The Aviator,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio as billionaire Howard Hughes, took in $9.4 million for fourth place. “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou” was No. 9 with $4.9 million, while “The Phantom of the Opera” was No. 10 with $4.2 million.

The weekend’s top 12 films grossed an estimated $121.9 million, down 26.5 percent from last year’s $165.8 million, when Christmas fell on a Thursday. Last year’s figure also was boosted by the third “Lord of the Rings” movie, which earned $50.6 million in its second weekend.

“When Christmas falls on a weekend, it’s bad for business,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.