San Diego’s favorite newscaster returned, but he was no match for the dragon named Smaug.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug stayed put in the number 1 spot with $31.4 million, but dropped a pretty substantial 57% in the process. That’s not too out of the ordinary, though. Additionally, this second film is about $10 million off its predecessor’s pace, but that has been true since opening day. However, on the worldwide front, The Desolation of Smaug is going strong with $262 million total, which is actually ahead of An Unexpected Journey‘s worldwide total at the same point.
Right behind The Hobbit is Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (read our review) with $26.7 million. It seemed like you couldn’t move an inch without seeing Ron Burgundy out promoting something, but that huge marketing push didn’t reap overwhelming rewards.
The film actually opened this past Wednesday, so it is now up to $40 million total, and overall the film is about on pace with its predecessor. We’ll have to see how well the film holds through the holidays, but right now Anchorman 2 is barely meeting expectations.
In at number 3 is Frozen with $19.16 million, which brings its domestic total up to $191 million. Disney Animation’s latest is slowly creeping up to 2013 top grosser list – it currently sits in the number 12 spot – and shows no signs of letting up.
American Hustle (read our review) finally went wide this weekend and pulled in $19.1 million – good enough for the number 4 spot. The film, which now sits at $20 million total, is doing well thanks to positive buzz from audiences, great reviews, and a strong marketing push. But the real draw is the film’s star-studded cast, led by Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper.
Also going wide this weekend is Saving Mr. Banks, which comes in at number 5 with $9.3 million. The story of Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers is a strong family draw, but that doesn’t appear to be converting into big box office dollars. Saving Mr. Banks is now at $9.9 million domestic.
In at number 6 is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with $8.7 million. The blockbuster sequel is now up to $371 million domestic – which makes it the second highest grossing film of 2013 – and $765 million worldwide.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas is the number 7 film this weekend with $8.5 million. We mentioned last week that the film was well-behind most of the other Madea releases, and that continues to be true as the film enters its second week. Nevertheless, A Madea Christmas has grossed $28 million thus far.
The animated/live action film Walking with Dinosaurs (read our review) takes the number 8 spot this weekend with a mediocre $7.3 million. The Fox-distributed film had a lot working against it, especially the odd choice to give voices to realistic dinosaurs, and it was pretty much dead in the water.
The Bollywood indie Dhoom 3 took the number 9 spot this week with $3.3 million on only 236 screens ($14,004 per screen). Most analysts figured that Dhoom 3 would nab a spot in the top 10 this weekend, as the film, part of a trilogy, has a strong fanbase.
Rounding out the top 10 is Thor: The Dark World with $1.3 million. Marvel’s sequel has finally crossed the $200 million domestic mark – it’s actually sitting at $200 million even – which makes it the highest grossing Marvel film that doesn’t feature Iron Man. Not exactly high praise, we know, but Thor’s worldwide total of $627 million shows the franchise as a whole is improving in a post-Avengers world.
Outside the top 10: Spike Jonze’s first feature as writer/director, Her, opened on 6 screens and pulled in $258,000 ($43,000 per screen).
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[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates – based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, December 16th – at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
