A great start for the two long-awaited films.
The filmmakers behind Django Unchained and Les Miserables must have been good this year. Both films opened on Christmas Day to record-breaking numbers, with the hope of Oscar nominations to carry them through the spring.
Les Miserables became the top-grossing Christmas opening ever ... for those Christmases that don't fall on a weekend, that is. Sherlock Holmes, which opened on a Friday, holds the actual Christmas Day record. Django is the top-grossing R-rated Christmas movie ever, easily beating the previous holder, Will Smith's Ali.
Django's numbers seem only to be helped by the controversy surrounding the film. Spike Lee recently announced he would boycott the film for its use of the N-word, claiming it is "disrespectful to my ancestors." But comedienne Sarah Silverman refutes Lee's allegations, telling TMZ, "you can't really tell art what to do."
She adds, "doesn't it take place, like, during slavery? Wouldn't it be odd if they didn't have that horrific word in it?"
Both films are on the watch list for Oscar nominations, which will be announced on Jan. 10.
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(Photo: Columbia Pictures)
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