Weekend Box Office: ‘Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug’ Falls Well Short of ‘Unexpected Journey’

To no surprise, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug took the #1 spot at the box office with $73.6 million, but I can’t say I expected it to come in $11 million below the opening weekend of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Clearly the first film failed to impress audiences and I can’t help but wonder how much of a grain of salt I should take the “A-” CinemaScore for Smaug considering the opening day audience is likely to be made up of the built-in fanbase. In fact, is it telling that the CinemaScore wasn’t higher?

Smaug skewed 60% male with 49% of the audience catching it in 3D. After a $31.2 million opening on Friday it was down to $17.9 million. Worldwide, Smaug managed $204.9M down $17 million from the first film. Suffice to say, the film is still clearly a big money earner, but the bloom may be off the rose.

In second was Frozen with $22.1 million, down only 30% from last weekend, which is to say this thing is prime to make some serious cash as we head into the holidays.

In third was Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas at $16 million, which is the lowest opening for a Madea film ever, $9 million less than 2011’s Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family and $25 million less than 2009’s Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail.

Outside of the Hobbit decline, in limited release Joel and Ethan Coen‘s Inside Llewyn Davis added 11 more theaters and from 15 it made $344,000, $22,933 per. Also in limited release, David O. Russell‘s American Hustle opened in only six theaters to a massive $690,000, $115,00 per.

Also in limited, Saving Mr. Banks hit the streets in 16 theaters and brought in $421,000 for a $28,067 per theater average. This is a title that seems to be slipping pretty far in the Oscar race with Emma Thompson to likely be the only strong contender, though THomas Newman may be able to find his way into the Original Score race if the Academy is feeling generous.

Otherwise, the complete top ten is directly below and I’ll be back tomorrow with actuals so we can see how the RopeofSilicon Box Office Challenge shapes out.

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