December 23, 2013 by Vinnie Leduc
After scoring the fourth-highest December debut ever, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug held on for the repeat win at the domestic box office over the weekend against a crowded set of challengers. Peter Jackson’s 3D fantasy sequel, the second installment of his Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy, added another $31.5 million and probably would’ve been beaten by Burgundy had Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues not been released a couple days early last Wednesday. The Will Ferrell comedy sequel, an honorable mention for one of our most anticipated movies of the year, grossed $27.8 million over the traditional three-day weekend, but its five-day opening total is $40 million.
Slipping a spot to third place was Disney’s hit 3D computer-animated musical Frozen, which in its fifth weekend finished just ahead of awards contender American Hustle, which in its expansion secured the best opening ever for writer/director David O. Russell. Rounding out the top five was Disney historical flick Saving Mr. Banks, which also expanded over the weekend. Bombing horribly was 3D family adventure Walking With Dinosaurs, which reportedly cost $80 million to make but opened with only $7.1 million in eighth place. In its seventh weekend, Thor: The Dark World crossed the $200 million mark stateside.
The final weekend of 2013 squeezes in another sizable set of movies that will try to prevent The Hobbit sequel from becoming the third movie of the year to three-peat in North America. The challengers include Keanu Reeves 3D action-adventure 47 Ronin, Ben Stiller comedy The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Stallone vs. De Niro boxing comedy Grudge Match, Scorsese-Leo reunion The Wolf of Wall Street, Justin Bieber documentary Believe, and the expansion of biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
Here are the numbers for the top five over the weekend via BOM:
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug — Weekend Gross: $31.5 million — Total Gross: $127.6 million (#1 last week)
- Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues — Weekend Gross: $27.8 million — Total Gross: $40.0 million (new)
- Frozen — Weekend Gross: $192.0 million — Total Gross: $19.6 million (#2 last week)
- American Hustle — Weekend Gross: $19.1 million — Total Gross: $20.2 million (#15 last week)
- Saving Mr. Banks — Weekend Gross: $9.3 million — Total Gross: $10.0 million (#18 last week)
