There were four new wide release movies dumped into theaters for the last week of the year, and if the filmmakers were hoping to take advantage of people heading to the movies for the holiday weekend, they were likely a little disappointed.
The most successful newcomer, Leo DiCaprio's The Wolf of Wall Street, earned $18 million over the weekend for a fifth place debut, adding to its $34 million total since opening Christmas day. With a 3 hour running time it had fewer showings than the competition, but sold out shows clearly weren't a problem.
Quirky comedy The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has earned $25 million since its Christmas Day opening, with $13 million of that total rolling in this weekend, coming in at number seven. The $90 million budget might be problematic for a movie that has earned just over $52 million internationally and is poised to disappear quickly in the new year.
The big end-of-the-year bomb is the massive action drama 47 Ronin. It opened in ninth place with just $9 million, adding to a weak $20 million total since Christmas Day. So far the effects heavy, $200 million budget flick has earned less than $50 million worldwide.
The fourth new entry, DeNiro and Stallone's Grudge Match banked $7 million over the weekend adding to its $13 million holiday total. That amount wasn't enough to break into the top ten, and puts the movie in a long march to recover its modest $40 million price tag.
For a third weekend in a row The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug held number one and held it strong, dropping just 5%, adding $29 million to its $190 million total to date. The holiday audiences couldn't help it catch up to the same day release total for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Overall 2013 saw domestic ticket sales increase by just under 1% from last year, which just kept pace with the approximate 1% increase in average ticket prices from 2012.
For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
$29,850,000Total: $190,304,000LW: 1
THTRS: 3,928
Frozen (2013)
$28,845,000Total: $248,366,000LW: 3
THTRS: 3,335
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
$20,150,000Total: $83,667,000LW: 2
THTRS: 3,507
American Hustle
$19,550,000Total: $60,035,000LW: 4
THTRS: 2,507
The Wolf of Wall Street *
$18,510,000Total: $34,302,000LW: N
THTRS: 2,537
Saving Mr. Banks
$14,021,000Total: $37,844,000LW: 5
THTRS: 2,110
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty *
$13,000,000Total: $25,595,000LW: N
THTRS: 2,909
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
$10,200,000Total: $391,124,000LW: 6
THTRS: 2,315
47 Ronin *
$9,869,000Total: $20,571,000LW: N
THTRS: 2,689
Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas
$7,400,000Total: $43,719,000LW: 7
THTRS: 1,788
