NEW YORK – On a busy pre-Christmas weekend at the box office, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug held off a very different sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
Peter Jackson’s Hobbit sequel took in $31.5 million in its second weekend of release, according to studio estimates Sunday. Though the film isn’t matching the pace of the first Hobbit movie, An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug is doing well abroad. It’s now made more than $400 million worldwide, including $96 million internationally over the weekend.
The Hobbit topped Will Ferrell’s Anchorman sequel, which nevertheless opened strongly in second place. The comedy made $26.8 million over the three-day weekend and $40 million since opening Tuesday night.
The much-marketed Anchorman 2 actually outperformed The Hobbit on Friday, but failed to best it over Saturday and Sunday. But the $50 million comedy also suggested it will be more popular abroad than most comedies. It made $13.4 million in six international markets.
The 2004 original opened with $28.4 million, but only grossed $5.3 million internationally.
David O. Russell’s fictionalization of the 1970s Abscam investigation American Hustle earned a robust $19.1 million in its first week of nationwide expansion. The film, starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, got a boost from its co-leading seven Golden Globes nominations.
The pre-Christmas weekend is a sought-after release date, one that usually offers films especially good legs at the box office as moviegoers flood theatres over the coming weeks. The weekend box office was up nearly 30 per cent over the same weekend last year.
But this year’s holiday frame will be particularly competitive. The crowded field of movie openings Wednesday includes Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone comedy Grudge Match, the Justin Bieber documentary Justin Bieber’s Believe and Keanu Reeves’ 47 Ronin.
One obvious casualty from the many options at the multiplexes was Walking With Dinosaurs, a 3-D attraction that hoped to draw moviegoers with digital dinosaurs. Made for $85 million, it fell flat with just $7.3 million over the weekend.
The family market has instead been cornered by the animated Frozen, which added $19.2 million over the weekend. In five weeks of release, it’s made $344 million worldwide.
The other Oscar-hopeful that went wide over the weekend was the making-of Mary Poppins tale Saving Mr. Banks. The film, starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, made $9.3 million.
Spike Jonze’s acclaimed futuristic romance Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlet Johansson, opened in limited release. It took in $361,000 over five days in three cities, good for a $60,000 screen average.
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