The Weekend Report

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug got the hat trick as it edged ahead of Frozen to lead weekend box office with an estimated $29.8 million. The record-breaking holiday session saw a lot of new films opening Christmas day but for the industry it appeared that Santa had stuffed a lot of coal in its stocking.

The top opener was the freewheeling The Wolf of Wall Street with a first weekend gross of $18.4 million (all box office represents 3-day figures) that ranked fifth overall. The remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was a couple of daydreams back with $13 million and the beleaguered 47 Ronin sliced off $9.9 million.

Young or old, the audience wasn’t there for either Justin Bieber’s Believe, which mistuned at $2 million or Rocky vs. the Bull in Grudge Match with $7.2 million.

In the in-under-the-Oscar-wire category, limited-release qualifiers included  historic drama The Invisible Woman, with a tepid $35,700 at three venues and the constantly-shifting August: Osage County that bowed to an OK $178,000 from five screens. The big noise turned out to be  real-life war saga Lone Survivor, with a gung-ho $91,500 at two sites.

Despite the absence of an incoming juggernaut, volume trumped strength to provide a record $210 million weekend. That translated into a 43% bump from a week back and a 13% improvement from 2012 when the first Hobbit led with $31.9 million and newcomers Django Unchained and Les Miserables were right behind with $30.1 million and $27.3 million.

Positioned as an award contender The Wolf of Wall Street hasn’t received a lot of love from critics and audience response has been lukewarm. Studio exit demos weren’t exactly good news for the picture’s future with a 54% male tilt that goes against star Leonardo DiCaprio female base appeal. It also had a whopping 90% crowd aged 25-years and older. Reportedly, at a recent screening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, director Martin Scorsese was greeted by a crowd that tends to be respectful with uncharacteristic boos and cat calls rather than wolf whistles.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has largely confounded critics that expected actor-filmmaker Ben Stiller to mount a more antic interpretation of the James Thurber tale. Its opening crowd was 52% female and 64% aged 25 years and older and will have to dig in to find its balance of fun seekers and more thoughtful viewers to survive the brutal awards season.

47 Ronin received a lot of advance ink its studio likely would have preferred centered on style rather than cost and a production history fraught with delays, re-shoots and tension between execs and creatives. That scaled down expectations but those that did buy tickets appeared to like what they saw. It’s opening weekend was not surprisingly 62% male and 55% aged 25-years and older.

However, the big what-happened of the holiday was Grudge Match. Movie goers simply weren’t interested in seeing two former ring champs exchange quips and blows and, per a studio rep, were two young to remember the actor’s championship round. Of those that did buy the concept, 55% were male and 68% were 25-years old plus.

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