Weekend Wrap-Up: Calm Before the Winter Store

December 10, 2013

Frozen poster

As expected, the box office was really soft this weekend with Frozen rising to the top with over $30 million. It was the only film that earned more than that amount, while The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was the only other film with significantly more than $5 million. Out of the Furnace was the only new release and while it barely topped $5 million, it still managed third place. The overall box office fell from 56% to just $92 million. As bad as that result is, it is still 15% higher than the same weekend last year. 2013 remains above 2012, albeit by a tiny margin of 0.3% at $9.75 billion to $9.72 billion. It wouldn't take much for 2013 to again lose its lead, so there's a lot to be interested in in the final few weeks of the year.

Frozen rose to first place during its sophomore stint with $31.62 million over the weekend for a total of $134.25 million. It did fall 53% during the weekend, but with incredible reviews and the holidays, it should have no trouble getting to $200 million and beyond. In fact, it has a slightly better decline than Tangled had, plus it is about 50% ahead of that film's pace. Granted, Tangled didn't have to deal with a film as large as The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, but it should still perform very well throughout December.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was quite a bit back with $26.19 million over the weekend for a total of $335.85 million after three. It too will lose a lot of steam to The Desolation of Smaug, but it could still be a saturation level release on New Years Day. If it can hold onto that many theaters, it could reach $400 million in total.

Out of the Furnace lived down to lowered expectations with just $5.22 million. Its per theater average was just $2,485, while its reviews are barely more than 50% positive, so there's little hope it will last long in theaters.

Thor: The Dark World was right behind with $4.81 million over the weekend for a total of $193.71 million after a month of release. It is very likely that this will be the film's final weekend in the top five, as it will suffer a sizable drop-off in its theater count this weekend. However, despite this, it is still on pace to cross $200 million before its theatrical run is over.

Delivery Man was a surprise entrant in the top five with $3.74 million over the weekend for a total of $24.77 million after three weeks of release. It is still playing in nearly 3,000 theaters, but that will change dramatically on Friday.

Looking in on the sophomore class, we find Homefront in sixth place with $3.43 million over the weekend for a total of $15.33 million after two. It fell nearly exactly 50%, which is actually better than most films in the top ten. Black Nativity fell 58% to tenth place with $1.53 million over the weekend for a total of $6.90 million after two. Its per theater average is just $1,001, so its will likely evaporate from theaters very quickly.

One last note, Bad Grandpa reached $100 million over the weekend, becoming the 30th film released in 2013 to do so.


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Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Theater Averages, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Thor: The Dark World, Frozen, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Out of the Furnace, Delivery Man, Black Nativity, Homefront, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa