Even with some prominent new competition at the top of the charts, Disney's "Frozen" had no problem holding onto its number one spot at the box office, grossing another $20 million as it edged closer to $300 million domestically. Meanwhile, low-budget horror spin-off "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" still had a decent opening weekend, grossing a steady $18.2 million and setting up another successful box office run for distributor Paramount. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" also shot past $400 million domestically over the weekend and is now clearly in line to finish its box office run as the top grossing 2013 release in terms of U.S. revenue.
With a production budget of just $5 million, an opening of $18 million is still a very good start for "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones," showing how easily the touted horror franchise continues to connect with its target audience. While these numbers are quite a bit lower than some of the other "Paranormal Activity" entries, "The Marked Ones" also doesn't have a great deal of competition in the coming weeks, which bodes well for it moving forward. "The Marked Ones" probably won't linger in the box office top 10 for too long, but a final domestic gross north of $40 million will likely only encourage future spin-offs.
Even as "The Marked Ones" made a dent with horror audiences over the weekend, "Frozen" continued to be a major hit with family audiences, grossing another $20.72 million and holding onto the number one spot at the box office. By the time "Frozen" crosses $300 million domestically later in the week, it will be the only 2013 release to do so without an opening of at least $80 million, pointing to the unusual hold that it has over its target demographic. Thanks to Disney's worldwide reputation, "Frozen" has also done very well overseas, pushing it to a spectacular $639 million around the globe. "Frozen" should finally start to slow in the coming weeks with the holidays now over, but it's already another smash commercial success that will likely tempt Disney to move forward with a sequel at some point.
Aiming at a completely different audience over the weekend was "The Wolf of Wall Street," Martin Scorsese's Golden Globe-nominated film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill. Though it got off to a lukewarm start for a $100 million production, it has settled in with adult audiences and looks like it could have a long box office run in the U.S. In its second weekend, "Wall Street" dipped only 27% from its opening and is now up to $63 million domestically, giving it a decent 12-day total. Though "Wall Street" will have to hold onto its momentum and benefit from some further awards season buzz to end up a clear commercial success, the last week has been encouraging for the Paramount distribution.
The weekend was also yet another strong one for blockbuster "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which earned a very solid $7.40 million in its seventh weekend in theaters. "Catching Fire" is now up to $407.49 million in the U.S., putting it less than $2 million behind "Iron Man 3" on the 2013 domestic charts. By the end of next weekend, "Catching Fire" will solidify itself as the top grossing 2013 release in terms of domestic revenue, which is remarkable considering it has a production budget of $70 million less than the recent "Iron Man" sequel.
Next weekend, Mark Wahlberg-starring action-drama "Lone Survivor" looks like one of the biggest draws as it expands nationwide, though it will have to compete for mainstream action audiences with "The Legend of Hercules." Also getting a nationwide expansion will be Spike Jonze's critically acclaimed film "Her," starring Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams. Later in the month, "I, Frankenstein," "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" and Jason Reitman's "Labor Day" also should find decent audiences, though their overall box office potential is limited in one of the slowest months of the movie year.
Early Studio Box Office Estimates for 1/3/13 - 1/5/13 (in millions), [RTT Prediction]:
1) Frozen (Disney): $20.72 [$19]
2) Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (Paramount): $18.20 [$22]
3) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Warner Bros.): $16.25 [$16]
4) The Wolf of Wall Street (Paramount): $13.40 [$10]
5) American Hustle (Sony/Columbia): $13.20 [$10.5]
6) Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (Paramount): $11.10 [$11]
7) Saving Mr. Banks (Disney): $9.06 [$8.5]
8) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Fox): $8.20 [$6.5]
9) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Lionsgate): $7.40 [$6]
10) Grudge Match (Warner Bros.): $5.41 [N/A]
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment