By Franck Tabouring
Weekend of December 5 – 7, 2008

“Four Christmases” topped the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend with $18.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Seth Gordon’s holiday comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon easily dominated its competition, lifting its domestic total to $70.8 million. In the film, a San Francisco couple pays a visit to all four of their divorced parents.

This week’s new releases weren’t that lucky, with Lexi Alexander’s “Punisher: War Zone” delivering the best result at No. 8 with $4 million. New entry “Cadillac Records” closely followed in ninth place with only $3.5 million.

As for “Nobel Son,” the third wide release this weekend, it only finished at No. 15 with a disappointing $371,000. Directed by Randall Miller, the film focuses on a student (Bryan Greenberg) who’s kidnapped on the eve of his father (Alan Rickman) receiving the Nobel Prize.

At a better No. 2, Catherine Hardwicke’s “Twilight” collected $13.1 million, bringing its total gross to $138.5 after a strong three-week run. The vampire romance starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson was budgeted at only $37 million.

Meanwhile, Walt Disney’s “Bolt” slipped to third place, earning $9.6 million and reaching a cumulative gross of $79.2 million. Following at No. 4 with $7 million was Baz Luhrmann’s epic adventure “Australia,” which brought its total haul to $30.8 million.

Dropping to No. 5 this week was Marc Forster’s “Quantum of Solace,” which picked up another $6.6 million for a total gross of $151.4 million. Staying put in sixth place was “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” which brought its cumulative gross to $165.6 million after this weekend’s earnings of $5.1 million.

Olivier Megaton’s “Transporter 3” pulled in $4.5 million at No. 7. The sequel’s domestic total currently stands at $25.3 million. Rounding out the top 10 this weekend was David Wain’s surprise hit “Role Models,” which took home another $2.6 million for a cumulative gross of $61.6 million.

Source: Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com)