The five new Christmas Day releases did well during the week, but the usual suspects took over the box office once the weekend came around.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug retains the number 1 spot once again with $29.8 million. The narrative hasn’t changed much since last week: Desolation is still slightly behind its predecessor in the domestic box office ($190 million so far), but is dominating overseas with $614 million after three weeks. Expect that trend to continue through most of January.
Coming in at number 2 is Frozen with $28.8 million. It was a neck-and-neck race between Frozen and Hobbit over the weekend, but Disney Animation’s film lost out in the end. Still, Frozen is a major 2013 success story, grossing $248 million domestic (#7 for all of 2013) and $491 million worldwide.
In at number 3 is Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues with $20.1 million. It may have been nine 9 years since the first Anchorman, but this comedy sequel proves there is still an audience for Will Ferrell and the gang. Now at $83 million, Anchorman 2 only needs $2 million more to pass its predecessor.
American Hustle stays strong in the number 4 spot with $19.5 million. The awards contender is doing extremely well and should easily hit the $100 million mark. Thus far, the film has pulled in $60 million.
Rounding out the top 5 is The Wolf of Wall Street (read our review) with $18.5 million. Martin Scorsese’s latest nearly beat out The Hobbit for the Christmas day crown and is the big winner out of this week’s new releases. If form holds, the film should finish with about $100 million, making it four straight $100 million films for the duo of DiCaprio and Scorsese.
Saving Mr. Banks is the number 6 film with $14 million. The film saw a big uptick (about 50%) over the holiday and is now at $37 million.
The number 7 film this weekend is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (read our review) with $13 million. The film opened with a decent $7 million on Christmas Day and has been holding well since. That isn’t to say the film is an outright hit, but it should do well during the season. Walter Mitty has pulled in $25 million since Wednesday.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire comes in at number 8 with $10.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $391 million. The sequel is edging ever closer to Iron Man 3‘s spot atop the 2013 highest grosser list, and only needs about $18 million more to do so. On the worldwide front, the film has grossed $784 million.
In at number 9 is 47 Ronin (read our review) with $9.8 million. The Keanu Reeves supernatural samurai film had a shot at a decent weekend by way of some interesting counter-programming, but that just didn’t pan out.
Considering the film cost about $200 million to make, it’s safe to say that 47 Ronin is yet another flop for the year, and a pretty substantial one at that. Since its Christmas Day opening, the film has only grossed $20 million domestic.
Rounding out the top 10 is Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas with $7.4 million. The film was one of the few not to see an uptick over the holiday weekend, and is now at $43 million total.
Outside the top 10: The Robert De Niro/Sylvester Stallone boxing film Grudge Match (read our review) pulled in a measly $7.3 million. Stallone and De Niro films have been struggling in the box office as of late, and that trend continues with this film. Grudge Match has grossed $13 million since Christmas.
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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 30th – at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
