Sherlock Holmes 2, Chipmunks Debut Soft at the U.S. Box Office

While still claiming the top two slots, SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED had soft debuts at the U.S. box office for the weekend of Dec. 16-18, 2011.

While still claiming the top two slots, SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS and ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED had soft debuts at the U.S. box office for the weekend of Dec. 16-18, 2011. SHERLOCK 2 took the #1 spot, discovering $40 million. The original film in Guy Ritchie's take on the super sleuth earned $62.3 million in its debut. Plowman Craven & Associates, BlueBolt, Framestore, Mark Roberts Motion Control, The Moving Picture Company (MPC), ReelEye Company and The Visual Effects Company provided vfx for the sequel.

CHIPWRECKED placed second with $23.5 million, which is less than half of THE SQUEAKQUEL's $48.9 million debut. Rhythm and Hues provided the vfx for the threequel.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL, on the other hand, opened strongly in third on only 425 IMAX screens. Helped by the six-minute preview of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, the actioner took in $13 million. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM, New Deal Studios, Persistence of Vision Entertainment and Svengali Visual Effects provided the vfx for the fourth installment in the spy franchise.

New Line's NEW YEAR'S EVE dropped to fourth, kissing $7.42 million. With vfx from Method Studios, the star-studded romcom has a cume of $24.8 million.

Fox's THE SITTER fell from second to fifth with $4.4 million. The raunchy babysitting comedy has total receipts equaling $17.7 million.

Summit's THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN — PART 1 arrived in sixth, bringing in $4.3 million. With vfx from Comen VFX, Halon Entertainment, Legacy Effects, Lola Visual Effects, Method Studios, Modus Fx, Pixel Magic, Soho VFX, Spin VFX, Tippett Studio and Wildfire Visual Effects, the vampire love story has amassed $266.4 million thus far.

After expanding, Paramount's YOUNG ADULT moved up from 18th to place seventh. The dark comedy added $3.65 million to its $4.09 million cume. Phosphene provided the vfx.

Paramount's HUGO stole the eighth slot with $3.63 million. With vfx from Plowman Craven & Associates, Lola Visual Effects, Mark Roberts Motion Control, Matte World Digital, Nvizage, Pixomondo and With A Twist Studio, the Martin Scorsese 3-D family film has a cume of $39.1 million.

Sony and Aardman's ARTHUR CHRISTMAS slid into ninth, raising $3.6 million. The holiday laugher has collected $38.5 million to date.

Disney's THE MUPPETS plummeted from fourth to finish 10th, taking in another $3.45 million. With vfx from Legacy Effects and Shade VFX, the loving ode to Jim Henson's creations has earned $70.9 million thus far.

Box office numbers were obtained on boxofficemojo.com.