Movie box office reporting has become quite the game. Nikki Finke regularly puts up the wrong numbers every Saturday in order to “beat” everyone. Then the real numbers come in and she just erases her earlier post. The real story this morning is that “Tower Heist” with its all star cast was beaten soundly by “Puss in Boots”– a big surprise. But even weirder is what else is happening in Box Office land. BoxOfficeMojo.com, now owned by the IMDB (itself owned by Amazon) has gone haywire. First of all, it seems like the founder, Brandon Gray, is mysteriously gone. He started the site in 1999 and sold it to IMDB in 2008. I’m told he left about two months ago. The site no longer updates properly– which the current operator attributes to computer problems. But last weekend and this weekend. BoxOfficeMojo isn’t posting its numbers. They say Gray’s departure is just a coincidence. Meanwhile, showbizdata.com. which also posts box office numbers and has full site, hasn’t updated since October 16th. I’m posting the three different sets of numbers you could find today on the internet. And you wonder why there are so many lawsuits later by filmmakers.
Here are Box Office Mojo’s numbers for this weekend:
1.      Puss – $33 – $75.5
2.      Tower Heist – $25.1 – $25.1
3.      H&K3 – $13.07 – $13.07
4.      PA3 – $8.53 – $95.3
5.      In Time – $7.7 – $24.2
6.      Footloose – $4.55 – $44.8
7.      Real Steel – $3.4 – $78.8
8.      Rum Diary – $2.99 – $10.4
9.      Ides of march – $2 – $36.8
10.  Moneyball – $1.9 – $70.3
Here are the Hollywood Reporter’s numbers:
Top 10 Actual Domestic Box Office Nov. 4-Nov. 6
Title/Weeks in Release/Studio/Theater Count/Weekend Total/Cume
1. Puss in Boots (2), Paramount/DreamWorks Animation/3,963, $32.1 million, $75.5 million
2. Tower Heist (1), Universal/3,367, $25.1 million
3. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (1), Warner Bros./New Line/2,875, $13.1 million
4. Paranormal Activity 3 (3), Paramount/,3,286, $8.5 million, $95.3 million
5. In Time (2), Fox/New Regency/3,127, $7.7 million, $24.2 million
6. Footloose (4), Paramount/2,41, $4.6 milion, $44.8 million
7. Real Steel (5), Disney/DreamWorks/2,438, /$3.4 million, $78.8 million
8. The Rum Diary (2), FilmDistrict/GK Films/2,292, $3 million, $10.4 million
9. The Ides of March (5) Sony/Cold Creek/1,391, $2 million, $36.8 million
10. Moneyball (7), Sony/1,276, $1.9 million, $70.3 million
Here are Deadline Hollywood’s numbers:
SATURDAY PM, 4TH UPDATE:
1. Puss In Boots 3D (DreamWorks Anim/Paramount) Week 2 [3,963 Theaters]
Friday $7.8M, Saturday $15.3M, Weekend $34M (-10%), Cume $76.5M
2. Tower Heist (Universal) NEW [3,367 Theaters]
Friday $8.1M, Saturday $10.5M, Weekend $24.6M
3. Harold And Kumar 3D Christmas (NL/Warner Bros) NEW [2,875 theaters]
Friday $5.5M, Saturday $4.7M, Weekend $13M
4. Paranormal Activity 3 (Paramount) Week 3 [3,286 Theaters]
Friday $2.9M, Saturday $3.7M, Weekend $8.5M, Cume $95.3M
5. In Time (Twentieth Century Fox) Week 2 [3,127 Theaters]
Friday $2.5M, Saturday $3.2M, Weekend $7.8M, Cume $24.3M
6. Footloose (Paramount) Week 4 [2,811 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.1M, Weekend $4.8M, Cume $45M
7. Real Steel (DreamWorks/Disney) Week 5 [2,438 Theaters]
Friday $925K, Saturday $1.6M, Weekend $3.5M, Cume $78.8M
8. The Rum Diary (FilmDistrict) Week 2 [2,292 Theaters]
Friday $980K, Saturday $1.1M, Weekend $2.9M, Cume $10.3M
9. Ides Of March (Sony) Week 5 [1,391 Theaters]
Friday $600K, Saturday $925K, Weekend $2M, Cume $36.8M
10. Moneyball (Sony) Week 7 [1,278 Theaters]
