Weekend Box Office: Frozen Has No Problem Holding Off The Marked Ones

By Chris Kavan - 01/05/14 at 10:09 PM CT

Is it cold where you're at? Because I don't remember them ever cancelling school for cold weather when I was young (and I had to walk uphill both ways in 10 foot snowdrifts to get to and from school anyway). Hopefully your heating bill is paid up - as for the box office - things were a little chilly there as well. Families continued to be the main draw while a franchise in need of a reboot didn't get much lift at the box office.

1) FROZEN

Frozen became the only film other than Avatar to top the box office in its sixth weekend out. The family film added another $20.72 million to its total, which now stands at $297.83 million and it should have no problem crossing the $300 million mark in another day or two. It dropped just 27.5% - which is the third-best ever hold for a movie in its sixth weekend (also trailing Avatar and Titanic). And it will continue to do well - as family films are scarce on the horizon and it should be able to top $350 million easy.

2) PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES

Although The Marked Ones has a decent Friday opening, ultimately it couldn't hold up steam over the weekend. It brought in $18.2 million - which was less than Paranormal Activity 4 ($29 million) and couldn't even match the total of Texas Chainsaw 3D ($21.7 million), though, in fairness, it also couldn't add in increased ticket costs due to 3D sales. The franchise tried to shake things up by coming up with a new story - and giving it a Latino twist - but it didn't translate to big numbers. Even more worrisome the mostly young (68% under 25) audience gave it dismal "C-" cinemeascore (even lower than the "C" for the fourth entry) meaning this is likely to fall out of the picture quickly. The only saving grace is the franchise continues to have a modest budget - just $5 million - and even with marketing costs thrown in, it will likely end up as a profitable venture.

3) THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

The fantasy sequel dipped 44% in its fourth weekend, bringing in $16.25 million - which raised its total to $229.63 million. Peter Jackson should have no trouble bounding across the $250 million mark - but it may fall short of $275 million. Even if the domestic picture seems a bit down, internationally it continues to play huge - nearing $800 million - and if it continues to play this strong, a $1 billion final tally is certainly manageable.


4) THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Even though audiences seemed a bit ambivalent towards Martin Scorcese's nearly three-hour film about excess - the expletive-filled misogyny on screen is apparently more appealing than thought as Wolf of Wall Street has a week-to-week decline of just 27%. It brought in $13.4 million, which ramped its total up to $63.3 million. If it can maintain some awards-season hype - it should be able to cross the $100 million mark.


5) AMERICAN HUSTLE

One movie certain to benefit from that award buzz will be American Hustle. In fact, as it stands at $88.7 million after bringing in another $13.2 million (down 33%) - it should be well beyond $100 million before the big show announces nominations. But David O. Russell has proven that when you work with frequent collaborators on projects, good things happen.



Outside the top five: By the well-coiffed mustache of Ron Burgandy - Anchorman 2 earned $11.1 million (sixth place) and shattered the $100 million mark in the process. The news team stands at $109.1 million and even with diminishing returns, it may be able to cross that $150 million mark.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is only about one week away from passing Iron Man 3 ($408.01 million) at becoming the highest-grossing film of 2013 (even if it will do it in the new year). It just managed to cross the $400 million mark last week and dropped just 26.5% - earning $7.4 million (9th place). It stands at $407.48 million now and in just a few days it will be the champ of 2013 and it will be interesting to see if any film in 2014 will be able to challenge it in terms of box office clout.

Next week Frozen should still be able to hold out as Lone Survivor gets a nationwide expansion (it looks good, but war films don't typically make big waves at the box office - especially one as bleak as this has been marketed) - and you also get the first of two Hercules movies this year in The Legend of Hercules - which I don't think is going to shape up to be too legendary at the box office.

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