Weekend Projections: Lone Survivor Posts Fifth-Best January Weekend

January 12, 2014

Lone Survivor poster

2014 has its first bona fide hit this weekend, with Lone Survivor posting an impressive $38.5 million, according to Universal's weekend estimate. That's the fifth-best January weekend in history, and the second-best by a film that wasn't already playing wide over the holidays (Avatar holds the top three spots in the chart and Cloverfield remains the record-holding new release). Unfortunately, the success of Lone Survivor was in part to blame for a weak debut by The Legend of Hercules, which will end in 4th or 5th place for the weekend.

Ahead of Hercules come Frozen (which is now in its 8th weekend in release and will post the fourth-highest 8th weekend gross, behind Titanic, Avatar and Aladdin), and The Wolf of Wall Street. Hercules itself will post around $8.6 million for a theater average around $4,000. That puts it in a tie, for now, with American Hustle.

The other notable film in the top 10 is August: Osage County, which is set for $7.3 million from 905 venues, for a solid $8,000 average.

- Weekend Projections

Bruce Nash

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Wolf of Wall Street, Lone Survivor, Frozen, American Hustle