For the first time in years, two Christmas Day releases have set an all-time record in ticket sales. Coming on top, 'Marley & Me', co-starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, a film about a young family and their mischievous dog ($14.8-million), closely followed by Pitt's 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' ($11.8-million), with Cate Blanchett, a telling of a lifelong romance between the two lead characters, exceeded ticket sales expectations by 40-50%, with the highest one-day total ever for a Christmas day film opening.

At Number 3 spot was Adam Sandler's new children friendly film 'Bedtime Stories' ($10.5-million), which also performed well on Christmas Day. While, 'Valkyrie', Tom Cruise movie's new film based on an actual assassination plot against Adolf Hitler, received mixed reviews, however that did not deter it from performing well, with a solid opening day total of $8.5-million.

'The Spirit', starring Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson was the only underperformer of the holiday season. A graphic adaptation of Frank Miller's novel, 'The Spirit' in spite of Johansson, only managed to gross $4 million.