It’s very impressive when any movie can top the box office charts in its fifth weekend. The last movie to do so was Avatar, almost three years ago. But what’s perhaps more impressive is Skyfall has managed this feat after three whole weekends of playing runner up. But that, my friends, is the advantage of being an actual good film playing against mostly crap and disappointments

Skyfall

Four weekends ago, the gap between Skyfall and Breaking Dawn was almost exactly $100 million. Now, after showing vastly superior stamina, 007 has taken back the top spot in its fifth weekend. Bond dropped just 34% to $11 million. With a current haul of $262 million, it still has an outside shot at the $300 million barrier, though it will need the boost of the holiday season to get there. Even still, it’s already grossed nearly $100 million more than Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

Holding very well in and moving up a spot in the charts is Rise of the Guardians. After its disappointing debut, the family film desperately needed some good legs. This is in fact the second weekend in a row it’s had the smallest drop in the top ten, but it’s probably too little too late. Down 21% to $10.5 million, it has amassed $62 million so far, but that’s against a budget of $145 million. It will probably still be around to reap some benefits from the holiday box office bonanza, but even surpassing $100 million is going to be a struggle.

Third place goes to Breaking Dawn, which slipped two spots after being on top for three straight weeks. Falling 47%, it continues to hold ever so slightly better than the other Twilight flicks, although that isn’t saying much. With $9.2 million this weekend, the total sits at $269 million now, which is slightly ahead of the pace of New Moon and nearly ten million above the pace of the first Breaking Dawn. At least the franchise will go out on a decent note, even if it’s likely to fall just shy of the total of Eclipse.

Lincoln  held well, dropping 32% to $9.1 million. With $97 million in the bank, this one could quite possibly find its way to close to $150 million, especially with the aforementioned holiday bonanza approaching. Life of Pi also dropped 32%, making $8.3 million this weekend. Its $61 million total still falls way short of its budget of $120 million, but this film still exceeded expectations.

The lone newcomer this weekend, Playing for Keeps, opened to $6 million. Well…. at least it’s better than Chasing Mavericks. An unfathomably awfully reviewed film (it has a two percent at Rotten Tomatoes; 57 rotten reviews against just one fresh), this one should disappear into the box office abyss soon enough.

Wreck-It Ralph keeps plugging along, this weekend pulling in $4.9 million, off 29%. Its current total of $165 million is identical to its budget, so add in overseas grosses and this is a success for Disney. Down 34%, Red Dawn made $4.3 million. A $37 million total ain’t too shabby for a movie that was on the shelf for years and was, you know, a terrible film.

Ninth place goes to Flight, which dropped 30%. With $3.1 million this weekend, the Denzel Washington flick is up to a very strong $86 million. I’m surprised it’s had the stamina it has after it was so horribly misadvertised. Anyway, Killing Them Softly fell to pieces, crumbling 60% to $2.8 million. It has a total gross of just $11.8 million. The good news is that the budget was only $15 million.

Moviegoers have had basically two entire weekends off. This leaves the door wide open for The Hobbit. After these two lackluster weekends, I think the public is going to be hungry for some quality entertainment (though it’s looking like The Hobbit isn’t going to come close to the quality of the original trilogy; it has a 74% at Rotten Tomatoes off 34 reviews). Add in 3-D and the stage is set for a huge debut. The December opening weekend record, held for five years by I Am Legend at $77.2 million, is about to get crushed. I’ll predict about $120 million for the debut of The Hobbit. Until we meet again.