The Muppets | featured news

The weekend after Thanksgiving is one of the slowest of the year, and 2011 is no different. With no new wide releases, Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 continued to top the domestic box office, grossing $5.5 million on Friday for a cume of $235.9 million. The pic is on track for a $16.8 million weekend.

In a notable victory for Disney, The Muppets continues to rule over other family films at the Thanksgiving box office, grossing $12.3 million on Friday for a three-day cume of $24.8 million. The pic, which cost a modest $45 million to produce, is now projected to post a Wednesday-Sunday debut of at least $40 million, putting it behind only The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn--Part 1, which grossed $16.9 million on Friday for a cume of roughly $195 million (the pic will jump the $200 million mark sometime on Saturday).

WEDNESDAY 4 PM: My sources are giving me these early estimates for today’s movie openings and for the 5-day Thanksgiving holiday. Already it’s looking like some of the new family fare won’t speed out of the theatrical gate, leaving a clear path for Summit Entertainment’s holdover Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 to win the weekend derby.

This week at the movies, we've got a Muppet caper (The Muppets, starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams), a special delivery (Arthur Christmas, with voice work from James McAvoy and Hugh Laurie), and a cinematic fantasia (Hugo, starring Asa Butterfield and Chloe Moretz). It's been more than a decade since the Muppets were in multiplexes, but critics say it was worth the wait: they find The Muppets to be a joyous musical comedy.

If you have seen “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” you probably saw this unusual trailer for “The Muppets,” the movie that marks the return of Kermit the Frog and co. to the big screen.