Showbiz411

The receipts are still being counted for Christmas Day box office. But it does look like a lot of people made it from their dinner tables to the movie theaters. “Les Miserables” came in at a boffo number 1 with somewhere between $16-$18 million. (UPDATE $18.2 Million– very nice!) Quentin Tarantino’s wild ride, “Django Unchained,” finished a close second. All of this means that Tom Cruise in “Jack Reacher” was knocked to number 5. The final numbers will be available later Wednesday. A couple of things are as I predicted: “Les Miz” has a pent up demand, and once it hit theaters, it took off. Internationally, the numbers will go even crazier. “Django” is a word of mouth hit. Forget the so called “controversies” about racism and the N word. (They– the controversies– are manufactured.) Every single person I know who’s seen “Django” loves it. Black, white, purple, doesn’t matter. It’s a great entertainment. So hold on for updates and keep refreshing…

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.