"Frozen" Rises To #1 at Box Office while "Out of the Furnace" Flops

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: Frozen Beats Fire, Furnace Melts
by Ray Subers
December 8, 2013


On a weekend in which most of the country was facing unusually frigid temperatures, Disney Animation's Frozen held well enough to take first place away from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Meanwhile, the lone newcomer Out of the Furnace was a major disappointment.







Frozen fell 53 percent to $31.6 million, which is the highest post-Thanksgiving gross ever ahead of Toy Story 2 ($27.8 million). In comparison, Tangled fell 56 percent to $21.6 million on the same weekend in 2010.

Frozen has now earned $134.3 million, and it remains on track for a total around $250 million.







After hanging on well through the Thanksgiving holiday, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire plummeted 64 percent to $27 million this weekend. That's not a particularly good hold; for example, the last two Twilight movies held a bit better coming off Thanksgiving weekend.

To date, Catching Fire has earned $336.7 million, and is still on pace to wind up north of $400 million.







At 2,101 locations, Out of the Furnace opened to an estimated $5.3 million this weekend. That's even worse than Killing Them Softly, a similarly dark crime movie that opened to $6.8 million on the same weekend last year.

Among comparable 2013 movies, it's on par with Dead Man Down ($5.3 million) and lower than last week's disappointment Homefront ($6.9 million).



With audiences distracted by holiday shopping and looking ahead to major releases later in the month, the first weekend of December is a historically slow one. Still, as the only new nationwide release, Out of the Furnace could absolutely have opened higher than $5.3 million.

Unfortunately, the movie looked way too grim, and advertisements failed to convey a compelling, unique story. It also didn't help that star Christian Bale isn't necessarily bankable, and fans of his were more likely to wait to see him reunited with director David O. Russell in American Hustle.



Furnace's audience was 60 percent male, and 77 percent were over the age of 25. It received a poor "C+" CinemaScore, which suggests this is going to fade from theaters quickly over the next few weeks.







In fourth place, Thor: The Dark World fell 57 percent to $4.7 million.

To date, it has earned $193.6 million, and it will pass $200 million before Christmas.








Delivery Man moved up a spot to fifth place.

The Vince Vaughn comedy—which does appear to be getting some help from solid word-of-mouth—added $3.8 million for a total of $24.8 million.







Outside of the Top 10, Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa inched past the $100 million mark this weekend. It's the sixth R-rated comedy to reach that level this year, which makes this one of the better recent years for adult comedies.

It's also worth noting that Bad Grandpa is ending its run with about the same attendance as Jackass 3-D, which inflated its total to $117.2 million with 3D ticket pricing.







At four locations in New York and Los Angeles, Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis opened to a phenomenal $401,000. That translates to a $100,250 per-theater average, which ranks 18th all-time (eighth all-time among live-action movies).

It's also ahead of a slew of late-year four theater releases like The King's Speech ($88,863), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy ($77,641) and The Fighter ($75,003).



Of course, it's difficult to tell how this opening will translate as the movie expands—the Coen Bros. are right in the wheelhouse of upscale arthouse audiences, and the movie's focus around a folk singer in 1960s Greenwich Village makes this a must-see in New York.

Still, with great reviews and a smattering of awards recognition, it's likely that Llewyn Davis earns at least $20 million in theaters.

The movie will receive its first expansion on Dec. 20th, though it won't reach nationwide release until sometime in January.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3761&p=.htm









December 6-8, 2013 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Frozen $31,641,000 / $134,278,000
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire $27,000,000 / $336,665,000
3. Out of the Furnace $5,327,000
4. Thor: The Dark World $4,740,000 / $193,640,000
5. Delivery Man $3,775,000 / $24,799,000
6. Homefront $3,384,000 / $15,284,000
7. The Book Thief $2,700,000 / $12,075,000
8. The Best Man Holiday $2,673,000 / $67,239,000
9. Philomena $2,282,000 / $8,255,000
10. Dallas Buyers Club $1,459,000 / $12,411,000