ABCNews' Holiday Movie Roundup

Dec. 1, 2006 — -- It all comes down to the final minutes in football, basketball, hockey … and in Hollywood.

Tinseltown suffered a miserable 2005, with box office revenue dipping below $9 billion for the first time since 2001.

This year -- even without a high number of blockbusters -- studio execs expect more than a lump of coal in their stockings.

It's crunch time.

From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, Hollywood takes in roughly 22 percent of its box office revenue. It's also when Oscar hopefuls hit the screen.

"We've definitely have something to be happy about," said Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations Co., the industry's pre-eminent box office tracking firm. "It's not the number of blockbusters we've seen this year as much as it is the smaller films that surprised, like 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'The Illusionist.' People are just more excited about going to the movies."

To be sure, 2006 isn't a complete turnaround. Ticket sales are 4 percent ahead of last year, yet they're still 6 percent behind 2004.

And while some of the biggest films of 2006 have yet to be released, there are no guaranteed blockbusters, says Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo.

"Last December, we had 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and 'King Kong,' and those were virtually guaranteed to do big business," Gray said. "This year, I don't see the one film that [is] a sure thing to generate $200 million plus."

The holiday movie season got off to a good start, with "Happy Feet" and the new James Bond film, "Casino Royale," exceeding expectations with high ticket sales. But even the biggest releases in December come with some major question marks.

"Dreamgirls," the star-studded musical featuring Beyonce and Jamie Foxx, is generating great buzz.

"This is the kind of movie people fall in love with," said Jeanne Wolf, critic at Movies.com. "At a movie screening, you rarely see industry people cheer and applaud so wildly. The only other movies that I saw something like this happening were 'Chicago' and 'Shakespeare in Love.'"

But musicals have spotty records.

It seemed like "Chicago" was going to usher in a new age of big screen song and dance. But subsequent releases, like "The Producers" and "Rent" were complete busts.