The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn makes its way into Hong Kong theaters this week as it continues its rollout overseas before hitting domestic theaters Christmas week. While the comic is very popular in mainland China, I'm unsure of its popularity here. Theaters don't seem very confident either and have given this just one screen. In some cases, they are showcasing Tintin in the 2nd biggest theaters which signals apprehension on their part. After being burned by Immortals last week, they might be a little more conservative in handing the biggest screen over but this will play extremely well on the weekend and profits will be maximized by 2 versions of the film. Pre-selling has it on target to rake in more than Immortals last weekend. If there is any downside, it's the reluctance on the theaters' part that has knocked down my prediction a few pegs. 1m is achievable and kids will look to their parents for an afternoon out after a weak fall schedule for children. Looking at the release schedule, there will be loads of kid choices in the next couple of months starting with Arthur Christmas next week and ending with From Kokuriko Hill and Puss in Boots Chinese New Year 2012. Even though Tintin will face a lot of competition in the next month, it does have the benefit of going first, having more appeal as a live-action animation movie as opposed to strictly being an animation film and having a grown up fanbase to start with. Steven Spielberg as well as Peter Jackson will have some clout and their names will bring people in to see it. All these factors plus a weak field and being in IMAX should contribute to a fairly big opening weekend. Opening in more than 30 theaters, this will handily finish in 1st place and with about 1m.

Relegated to the runner-up position for the 2nd weekend in a row will be You Are the Apple of My Eye. After a misstep last week, it should rebound from its somewhat big drop with a smaller decline this week. With theaters deciding to keep this around with favorable showtimes and the same screens from last week, Apple won't falter as much even with Tintin opening and it'll pass 7.3m. The reason this has done extremely well is because of the classic high school love story plot. Moviegoers here are able to connect with that and relate it to their own high school memories and that has been the driving force of the film and the box office sales here. It has retained the majority of its showtimes and only a few theaters are either dropping this or giving this only 1 showtime per day. Another weekend above 200,000 and a drop below 40% is possible. I wouldn't put it past it to drop less than 25% either as pre-sales for Thursday have been pretty good.

After one week on top, Immortals will relinquish its reign and fall to #3. After strong ticket sales of You Are the Apple of My Eye and 3 Idiots, theaters have decided to keep those in the bigger theaters instead of Immortals. Immortals is now in the small theaters but the combination of favourable showtimes and 3D prices will offset the drop in ticket sales. A drop over 50% is likely given the erosion of the film in the last couple of days and 3D competition from Tintin. A 56% drop would leave it with $220,000 for the weekend and $875,000 total in 11 days.

3 Idiots continues to break records. After taking the record for most weekends spent in the top 5 this year last weekend, it will continue its run and already has its sights set on another Sex & Zen record this year, most weekends spent in the top 10. It has already crawled past 2.3m and it will pass its 2.5m target next weekend. Theaters have put this back on the biggest screens in most places. That should see it gross another weekend over $100,000 and we could be seeing an increase from last weekend. It has already spent an incredible 12 weeks inside the top 10, 8 in the top 5 and is most likely going to add another weekend to its tally. The 3 Idiots train doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon with people continuing to see the film and theaters remaining committed to showing this as long as possible. A $130,000 weekend would send it towards a 2.47m total and within striking distance of 2.5m.

After a poor outing on its opening weekend, Margin Call will barely manage to spend another week in the top 5. It has gotten the boot in several theaters and decreased showtimes in almost every other theater. Outside of the business districts, this hasn't been doing well and WOM is mixed. -54% would leave it with $80,000 for the weekend and about $315,000 total.

A Little Bit of Heaven is going semi-wide with about 10-15 theaters. The romcom drama is nothing more than filler while everyone waits for December. Pre-sales have been mild so far and with mixed WOM, this will be skipped by most of the public. It could start off with $50,000.

East Meets West 2011 flies into 15 theaters this week. It has the potential of bombing the most even with recognizable Hong Kong movie/music stars. Theaters have opted for half day showings and weak pre-sales seem to indicate this won't be doing much. $40,000 for the weekend is possible.