Weekend Wrap-Up: Box Office Goes Cold
January 7, 2014
The box office wasn't as boisterous as anticipated and this is partially due to the seasonal storm that hit the east coast. This is also partially due to weaker than expected numbers for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, which only managed second place in its debut. This allowed Frozen to return to top spot on the chart, even though it was a little weaker than expected. The overall box office fell 27% from last weekend down to $141 million. Compared to last year, the box office was down 4%, which isn't a good result, but it is also not terrible. Had The Marked Ones merely matched expectations, it would have been a virtual tie.
Frozen earned first place for the second time in its run with $19.58 million over the weekend for a total of $296.69 million after a month and a half. It will cross $300 million before next weekend and will become just the fourth film released in 2013 to get to that milestone.
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones opened below expectations with $18.64 million. On the one hand, this is well below the previous installments in the Paranormal Activity franchise. On the other hand, it reportedly cost just over $5 million to make, so it has already made back its production budget. Back to the original hand, its reviews were weak and its legs will be poor, so it won't last long enough to cover its P&A budget domestically. That said, it will make a profit either internationally or early in the film's home market run, so the studio should be happy.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug fell to third place with $15.68 million over the weekend for a total of $229.06 million. At this point in its run, An Unexpected Journey had a running tally of $263.83 million and earned another $40 million. The Desolation of Smaug won't match that number, but it will have no trouble getting to $250 million, which is enough to be considered a success.
The Wolf of Wall Street was surprisingly strong with $13.23 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $63.13 million. At this pace, it has a shot at $100 million domestically, and its chances will certainly be better if it can pick up several Oscar nominations.
Speaking of $100 million, American Hustle is about a week away from that milestone. Over the weekend, it pulled in $12.40 million giving it a total of $87.92 million. Add in its reviews and its success during Awards Season, it should remain in theaters for a while and continue to pull in millions.
Anchorman: The Legend Continues started with $8.10 million on its opening day; however, while that's a great single-day opening, it didn't do as well during its opening weekend with $26.23 million. This past weekend, it tied for the worst week-to-week drop off at 46% falling to $10.63 million. That's the bad news. The good news is that it reached $100 million and by the end of Sunday it was sitting at $108.71 million, which is more than the original made.
Saving Mr. Banks landed in seventh place with $8.69 million over the weekend for a total of $58.96 million. Unless it wins some Oscars, it won't get to $100 million. However, even if it doesn't win a single major award, it still should get to $75 million, which would make original predictions.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty fell to eighth place with $8.00 million over the weekend for a total of $45.47 million after two. This film is not living up to predictions and it will start losing theaters rather quickly.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was next with $7.05 million. It topped the $400 million mark just before the weekend, making it only the second film released in 2013 and the 17th film of All Time. In a very short time, it will top The Hunger Games for best in the franchise and shortly after that, it will top Iron Man 3 for best film of 2013.
Grudge Match rounded out the top ten with $5.33 million over the weekend for a total of $24.84 million after two. Out of all of the films in the sophomore class, it held on the best. However, it also opened really poorly, so this is too little, too late.
47 Ronin was right behind in eleventh place with $5.06 million over the weekend for a total of $32.69 million after two. This was an expensive mess, so it will likely disappear quickly. It is doing better internationally, but not by enough to truly matter.
Further down the list we find Justin Bieber's Believe in 19th place with just $574,000 over the weekend for a total of $5.96 million after two. It fell 71% during its sophomore stint and its opening weekend was much weaker than expected. The only bit of good news is the price. It likely didn't cost a lot to make.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 47 Ronin, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Wolf of Wall Street, Frozen, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Saving Mr. Banks, Grudge Match, American Hustle, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, Paranormal Activity, Hunger Games