A trio of big debuts lead by The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies dominated the box office over this past weekend. Peter Jackson’s final entry in the Middle Earth saga brought in $56.2 million amid mixed reviews (including ours) and teary-eyed fans coming to terms with the end of the long-running film series.
Following that was another debut, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, which brought in $17.3 million for director Shawn Levy and star Ben Stiller. It’s worth noting that this will be the last time Robin Williams will be appearing on the big screen since his passing earlier this year. He is slated to appear in 2015’s Absolutely Nothing, but in voice only.
The final big debut was Annie, which made $16.3 million despite being leaked as part of the massive Sony hacks. Reviews for the Will Gluck retelling of the classic musical have been less than great, as the film currently sits at a meager 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rounding out the top five was last week’s box office winner, Exodus: Gods and Kings, which brought in $8.1, and The Hunger Games which continues to print money. The second-to-last film in The Hunger Games series brought in another $7.8 million to add onto the Scrooge McDuck lake of money that Lionsgate is surely swimming in right now.
Chris Rock’s Top Five saw a 48% loss in revenue week over week, despite being shown in additional 328 theaters and receiving mostly positive reviews. It’s likely the result of an unfortunate release window as the film came out the same weekend as Exodus, and one weekend before The Hobbit.
The Imitation Game continues to do well in the small amount of theaters it is being shown in. Benedict Cumberbatch, who sadly does not play an egocentric fire-breathing dragon in the film, and crew brought in $895,000 over the weekend in only 34 theaters, for an impressive $26,324 per-theater average.
Amid growing awards buzz, Foxcatcher had its theater presence heavily increased – now showing in 307 theaters – 228 more than last weekend. This lead to a 137% increase in gross revenue week over week as the film brought in $954,000 during the past two days.
Wild, another film with a good chance at a lot of awards, had a major surge in theater showings as well. Thanks to 945 additional theaters now playing Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, the film brought in $4.2 million, or a 171% increase over last weekend. Wild’s popularity, especially on the west coast, has even lead to the nature trail mentioned within it being used a lot more frequently since its release.
This weekend in 2013 was another big one for Hollywood, as the second Hobbit film, The Desolation of Smaug, ruled the day bringing in $31.5 million, followed closely by Anchorman 2 and its $26.2 debut weekend. This was also the weekend that the fantastic Spike Jonze drama Her debuted. If you somehow haven’t seen this great movie yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Definitely my favorite film of 2013, if not all time.
[button type=”link” link=”http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/” size=”btn-sm” variation=”btn-danger” target=”blank”]Source: Box Office Mojo[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
