Our Movie Standings: Can Anyone Stop The Algorithmic Magic Of Clooney?

Every Monday PopcornBiz applies a special formula to the top 10-grossing movies of the weekend, taking into account their staying power, budget and critic ratings to determine who really won the weekend. We call it the PopcornBiz Standings.

Despite overall grosses and attendance being down for the year, Hollywood managed to wrap up the year in grand style, with seven movies making over $10 million and getting increased business from EVERY film in the Top 14. Best of all: Some of these movies are actually good! I swear it's true! Not "Alvin & the Chipmunks," but some of the other ones in there are legit! It warms my heart when good movies make lots of money, because that means that Hollywood will be encouraged to make more good movies and then fail! Here is the final box office chart via Box Office Mojo.

1. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - $29.6M
2. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - $21.0M
3. Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked - $16.4M
4. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - $14.8M
5. War Horse - $14.4M
6. We Bought A Zoo - $13.2M
7. The Adventures Of Tintin - $11.4M
8. New Year's Eve - $6.4M
9. The Darkest Hour - $4.3M 10. The Descendants - $3.4M

"M:I4" has nearly recouped its entire production budget in North American grosses alone. And it's cleaning up abroad, which means that Tom Cruise will become more powerful than ever. Um... yay? I guess? Anyway, was "MI:4" strong enough this week to dethrone George Clooney, who has dominated these rankings for seven straight weeks? (FANCY CALCULATOR SOUNDS!)

1. The Descendants - 405
2. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - 389
3. The Artist - 350
4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - 306
5. War Horse - 135
6. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - 101
7. Young Adult - 87 8. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - 84
9. We Bought A Zoo - 82
10. The Muppets - 46

You cannot kill "The Descendants." We're gonna have to take it out in a boat in choppy waters and ride around until it bumps its head and falls into a fatal coma. Elsewhere in the standings, the Oscar darlings have begun to flex their muscle, with "The Artist" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" roaring into the top 5 thanks to wider releases and higher grosses. No other movie in our top ten came close to the per-screen averages held by TTSS, which clocked in at nearly $20K per. Be on the lookout for "The Iron Lady," which opened on just four screens this weekend and should fare better once it goes into wide release.

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