At least one box office record was broken over the MLK holiday, but a few new releases struggled to stay afloat.
Coming in at number 1 is Ride Along (read our review) with a record-setting $41.2 million, besting the previous record-holder Cloverfield ($40.1 million) by a slight margin. Although Ride Along was the favorite to take the top spot heading into the weekend, few could have predicted the film would do this well, let alone set a record. It’s fair to say that Kevin Hart’s star is still on the rise, and his phone must be ringing nonstop.
Last week’s big winner, Lone Survivor, drops to number 2 with $23.2 million. Strong word of mouth based on the film’s performance last weekend likely helped Lone Survivor hold well. All told the film has grossed $74 million.
The Nut Job (read our review) is the number 3 film with $20.5 million. Open Road Films’ first animated release also surpassed expectations despite generally poor reviews. That likely wasn’t an issue for moviegoers, especially families desperate for something to keep kids occupied over the three-day weekend.
In at number 4 is Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (read our review) with $17.2 million. As far as Jack Ryan films go, Shadow Recruit‘s opening is the second worst behind only The Hunt for Red October, which opened back in 1990.
Although expectations weren’t very high for Jack Ryan, Paramount was likely hopping for better than a 4th place opening and $17 million. It’s obviously too early to say for sure, but Shadow Recruit‘s performance certainly puts any talk of a potential sequel into question.
Rounding out the top 5 is Frozen with $11.9 million. Disney Animation’s first $300 million earner is the front-runner for the Best Animated Feature Oscar and the fourth highest grossing 2013 release with $332 million.
The number 6 film this weekend is American Hustle with $10.6 million. David O. Russell’s latest came away with plenty of Oscar noms – as well as a few Golden Globes – this week, which resulted in a 27% uptick in its sixth weekend. The film has now accrued a whopping $116 million (on a $40 million budget) and is showing few signs of slowing down.
Coming in at number 7 is Devil’s Due (read our review) with $8.5 million. Granted, not much was expected of this found footage movie centered on a disturbing pregnancy, but a sub $10 million opening for a horror film in January is a little low. Clearly, Devil’s Due couldn’t contend with the other big new releases.
In at number 8 is August: Osage County with $7.59 million. The star-studded adaptation of Tracy Letts’ play increased its theater count by about 1,000 screens and saw a slight uptick as a result. August: Osage County is now at $18 million after four weeks in limited release.
The Wolf of Wall Street is the number 9 film with $7.5 million, which brings its total up to $90 million. Though the film is still about $10 million under its production budget, The Wolf of Wall Street seemed like the big winner this past week, nabbing several surprise Oscar nominations including a Best Supporting Actor nod for Jonah Hill. We’ll see how much longer the film can ride that buzz.
Rounding out the top 10 is Saving Mr. Banks with $4.1 million. Although the film didn’t come away with any hardware this week, or very many Oscar nominations, Saving Mr. Banks has hung around for the past 6 weeks and accumulated $75 million.
_________________________________________________
[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 Tuesday, January 21st – at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
