Warner Bros. Entertainment’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took in $21.73 million last weekend to lead the weekend box office for a third consecutive week. The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy was down a significant 47 percent from the previous weekend. All previous Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films have experienced declines in the 40 percent to 49 percent range the weekend after New Year’s and that trend held up for The Battle of the Five Armies. The film surpassed the $200 million domestic mark last weekend and has grossed $220.60 million in 19 days. That places The Battle of the Five Armies 9.5 percent ahead of the $201.54 million 19-day take of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and 7 percent behind the $238.00 million 19-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Martin Freeman starts as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. (Photo: Mark Pokorny/Warner Bros.)

Disney Entertainment’s Into the Woods remained in second place last weekend with $18.73 million. The modestly budgeted Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep was down 40 percent from the previous weekend. Into the Woods has grossed a strong $90.87 million in 11 days. Into the Woods continued to run neck and neck with Universal Pictures’ Unbroken last weekend and total grosses for the two films are separated by just $3.22 million thus far.

Unbroken placed in third with $18.17 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama was down a respectable 41 percent from the previous weekend. While Unbroken has shown some relative front-loading thus far, in the bigger picture the film has grossed a significantly stronger than expected $87.65 million in 11 days thanks in part to its very strong Christmas weekend start.

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death debuted in fourth place with a surprisingly strong $15.03 million start. The PG-13 rated horror sequel from Relativity Media exceeded expectations, which had been muted in part from soft pre-release online activity heading into the weekend. The film’s debut was especially good news for Relativity given that the film was an inexpensive acquisition for the distributor. Early January is historically a good time to release horror films and that certainty was the case for The Woman in Black 2. The film opened 28 percent below the $20.87 million start of 2012’s The Woman in Black, which was quite respectable given that The Woman in Black 2 doesn’t feature Daniel Radcliffe.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb claimed fifth place with $14.52 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise continued to display impressive holding power as it was down just 28 percent from the previous weekend. Secret of the Tomb has grossed $89.85 million in 17 days.

Annie placed in sixth with $11.25 million. Sony Pictures’ musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz also held up nicely last weekend as it fell 32 percent from the previous weekend. Annie has grossed a very solid $72.46 million in 17 days.

The Imitation Game continued to impress in moderate release with a seventh place take of $7.77 million from 754 locations. That gave the awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Co. a per-location average of $10,308 for the frame, which easily represented the weekend’s strongest location average for films in the top 10. The Imitation Game has grossed $30.47 million to date and appears to be in great shape for a lengthy box office run, especially when considering it was down only 2 percent from the previous weekend without the aid of a major expansion last weekend.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 finished in eighth with $7.56 million. The third installment of Lionsgate Entertainment’s blockbuster franchise was down a very healthy 25 percent from the previous weekend. Mockingjay – Part 1 is currently the second highest grossing release of 2014 domestically with a 45-day take of $323.73 million. That leaves the film just $9.32 million away from the current $333.06 million total gross of Guardians of the Galaxy.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took in $40.92 million last weekend (Dec. 26-28) to hold onto first place. The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy was down 25 percent from its opening weekend. The film’s second weekend hold was better than that of 2003’s The Return of the King, which fell 30 percent, and a bit weaker than that of 2002’s The Two Towers, which fell 21 percent. With those comparisons in mind, last weekend’s hold was a strong sign for the film going forward. The Battle of the Five Armies grossed $168.02 million in 12 days. That places the film 19.5 percent ahead of the $140.64 million 12-day take of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and essentially on par with the $168.18 million 12-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The Interview, with James Franco (left) and Seth Rogan, took in about $20 million last weekend through limited theatrical release and online rentals. (Photo: Ed Araquel/CTMG)

It was a very close race for second place last weekend between Disney Entertainment’s Into the Woods and Universal Pictures’ Unbroken. Unbroken had been estimated on Sunday to take second, but Into the Woods ultimately pulled ahead on Sunday to claim second for the weekend. The two films were separated by just $430,478 for the weekend and by an even slimmer $85,818 over their respective first four days of release.

Into the Woods opened with $31.05 million over the weekend. The Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep opened on the high end of expectations with a four-day debut of $46.14 million. The film’s start was especially impressive given its relatively modest 2,440 locations.

Unbroken opened in third with $30.62 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama has largely exceeded expectations with a four-day start of $46.06 million. Mixed critical reviews haven’t hampered the film out of the gates, which was aided greatly by the pre-existing fanbase of the Laura Hillenbrand written book.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb claimed fourth place with $20.20 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise was up an impressive 18 percent from its softer than expected debut. Secret of the Tomb has grossed $54.73 million in 10 days.

Annie rounded out the weekend’s top five with $16.50 million. Sony Pictures’ musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz increased 4 percent over the previous weekend. Annie has grossed $45.74 million in 10 days.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 placed in sixth with $10.06 million. In the process, the third installment of Lionsgate Entertainment’s blockbuster franchise surpassed the $300 million domestic milestone last weekend, making it the second release of 2014 to do so joining Guardians of the Galaxy. Mockingjay – Part 1 was up 28 percent over the previous weekend and has grossed $306.72 million in 38 days.

Paramount Pictures’ The Gambler debuted in seventh with $9.13 million. The Mark Wahlberg led drama was off to a solid four-day start of $14.13 million, especially when considering its modest price tag and that its scheduled wide release was fairly last minute. However, early long-term signs for the film haven’t been as promising

The Imitation Game had a very successful expansion last weekend with an eighth place take of $7.93 million from just 747 locations. The awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Co. grossed $11.01 million over the four-day frame and has grossed a very promising $14.63 million to date.

Also opening last weekend was Sony Pictures’ much buzzed about The Interview. After initially having its wide release canceled, Sony gave the comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco a last-minute limited theatrical release in 331 smaller independent locations while also giving the film a digital release. The results of the film’s theatrical release were mixed, as it grossed $1.80 million over the weekend and $2.84 million in four days. However, Sony said it earned $15 million through online video-on-demand rentals on YouTube Movies, Google Play, Microsoft Xbox and iTunes. Combined with its limited theatrical take, The Interview earned just less than $20 million, which Sony had estimated it would make opening weekend.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies easily led last weekend’s (Dec. 19-21) box office with $54.72 million. The third and final chapter of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy has grossed $89.13 million through its first five days of release. On the heels of a sharper than expected percentage decline on Thursday, the film rebounded over the weekend. The five-day debut of The Battle of the Five Armies was 13 percent below the $102.05 million five-day start of 2002’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which also opened on a Wednesday, and 3.5 percent ahead of the $86.14 million five-day start of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which opened on a Friday.

Martin Freeman and Ken Stott in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

It what turned out to be a closer than expected race for second, 20th Century Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb was able to outpace Sony Pictures’ Annie with an opening weekend take of $17.10 million. The two films split up the family audience last weekend and may remain close to one another throughout the rest of the holiday season. While it was able to claim second, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb opened significantly below expectations. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise had already been expected to see a significant drop-off from the performance of its predecessor, 2009’s Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, which debuted with $54.17 million in its first three days.

Annie debuted in third with $15.86 million. The musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz opened towards the lower end of pre-release expectations. That is positive news for Sony, especially after the events of the past week that led to the cancellation of the studio’s release of The Interview. Annie trailed Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb by just $1.24 million last weekend. Like Secret of the Tomb, Annie is likely to hold up nicely throughout the holiday season, though between the two films, it will face more direct competition from Walt Disney Studio’s Into the Woods beginning Christmas Day.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Exodus: Gods and Kings landed in fourth with $8.11 million. The pricey Ridley Scott directed biblical epic starring Christian Bale was down a very sharp 66 percent from the previous weekend’s debut. Poor reviews, mixed word of mouth and direct competition from The Battle of the Five Armies are all taking a toll on the film. Exodus: Gods and Kings has grossed a lackluster $38.94 million in 10 days.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 followed closely behind in fifth with $7.88 million. The third installment of Lionsgate Entertainment’s blockbuster franchise was down a solid 38 percent from the previous weekend. Mockingjay – Part 1 has grossed $289.36 million in 31 days, which leaves it just $10.64 million away from becoming the second release of 2014 to reach the $300 million domestic milestone.

In its first weekend of wide release, Fox Searchlight’s Wild took in $4.11 million to place in sixth. The critically acclaimed drama starring Reese Witherspoon has grossed $7.17 million in 19 days of release.
On the limited front, UTV’s PK was off to a very strong start with $3.57 million from 272 locations. That gave the Hindi language comedy starring Aamir Khan a per-location average of $13,108 for the frame. PK finished in ninth place among all films this weekend

Santa delivered five new nationwide releases on Christmas Day, but by the weekend audiences had turned their attention back to blockbuster holdovers The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Frozen. With a diverse set of options, overall business was strong on the final weekend of 2013: the Top 12 earned $185.8 million, which is up 13 percent from the same frame last year.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. (Photo: Warner Bros.)

The second Hobbit movie took first place for the third-straight weekend — the only other movie to accomplish this in 2013 was fellow Warner Bros. release Gravity. The Hobbit added $29.04 million. The Desolation of Smaug has now earned more than $189 million, and remains on pace for a final take of $250 million.

Disney Animation’s Frozen continued to exceed even the most optimistic expectations. The animated sensation increased 47 percent to $28.60 million. The movie is benefiting not only from great word-of-mouth, but also from a void of legitimate family entertainment — Saving Mr. Banks turned out to be too mature, while Walking with Dinosaurs never really clicked with audiences. Among 2013 releases, Frozen now ranks seventh with $248.12 million. It is now guaranteed to close with over $300 million.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues took third place with $19.66 million. Through 12 days, the comedy sequel has earned $83.18 million, and it will pass the original movie’s $85.3 million total in a day or two. David O. Russell’s American Hustle held on to fourth place with $18.70 million. So far, the star-studded 70s caper has earned $59.19 million; with plenty of awards recognition still to come, it should have no problem getting to $100 million.

Among the Christmas Day releases, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street led the pack with $18.36 million ($34.1 million five-day). It is expected that he movie will burn out quickly, though the controversy about the movie’s borderline pornographic content could spur some interest. If Wolf also garners a handful of Oscar nominations, it could theoretically flirt with $100 million before the end of its run.

After a slow start its opening weekend, Saving Mr. Banks saved some face last weekend by improving 44 percent to $13.45 million. Through 10 days, Banks has earned a decent $37.28 million. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opened in seventh place with $12.77 million ($25.37 million five-day). For star Ben Stiller, that’s miles away from movies like Night at the Museum and the Meet the Parents sequels. It should play well through the next few weeks.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has now earned $390.99 million. With another week of holidays, it appears to be on pace to top the original Hunger Games ($408 million).

A handful of new releases bombed pretty hard last weekend. Universal’s long-delayed mega-budget samurai movie 47 Ronin earned just $9.91 million ($20.61 million five-day). Ronin isn’t doing particularly well overseas either, and Universal is expected to lose a ton of money on this (some reports have it as high as $175 million). Don’t cry for Universal, though—to this point, they’ve had a banner year thanks to major hits like Despicable Me 2 and Fast & Furious 6. Grudge Match was the biggest surprise of the weekend — and not in a good way. The Robert DeNiro/Sylvester Stallone boxing comedy took in just $7.02 million ($13.14 million five-day), which caps a rough year for the two geriatric stars. Audiences clearly weren’t interested in seeing a reheated version of Rocky and Raging Bull.

Ben Stiller directs and stars in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber’s classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. (Photo: Wilson Webb/20th Century Fox)

Sometimes the line between reality and fantasy is blurred. In the moment, daydreams can feel like real life. Such is the existence of Walter Mitty, the milquetoast main character of Thurber’s 1939 New Yorker short story. But this is no remake of Danny Kaye’s 1947 movie.

Walter lives his life at a safe and reasonable distance. A man, ruled by routine. He’s the guy you like but don’t know. Smile at but never stop to talk to. Walter is alone in a room full of people.There is one bright spot in Walter’s life: a woman who stops to notice. Don’t let Walter fool you. His life seems small, but his imagination is grand. In his daydreams, Walter is heroic, brave and always gets the girl.

Walter is a quiet, photo lab geek at Life magazine, the long time publication that is closing its doors. Of course, in real life, those doors closed years ago, but the magazine name makes for the perfect contradiction to Mitty’s existence. The transition team is in place led by the snide, bearded corporate presence of Ted Hendricks (Adam Scott). Photographer extraordinaire Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) has delivered the perfect shot for the final cover. Only one problem: Walter cannot find it. Using the photos before and after the missing Photo 25, Walter pieces them together like a clue to find O’Connell and in the process traveling the world.

This gaffe leads Walter to cross paths with co-worker Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig), whom he has secretly admired both across the office and by staring at her eHarmony profile. Their investigative work leads Walter on the first real journey of his life. He even breaks free of the family bond of his mom (Shirley MacLaine) and sister (Kathryn Hahn) and gets a pep talk and well timed boost from his eHarmony rep (Patton Oswalt).

Walter’s expedition leads him to Greenland, Iceland, the Himalayas and Afghanistan by way of Yemen. He also encounters a wild helicopter pilot and ride, sharks, an erupting volcano, drinking beer from giant glass boots, a sad and aggressive Karoke singer, and takes a speedy ride via skateboard. Rather than changing Walter, these experiences just bring out a lust for life that was previously only flashed through his periods of fantasy zone outs.

How many heels does it get?

The acting is very strong in this one. Stiller’s beaten down demeanor and stone-faced expressions are spot on for the Mitty role. MacLaine, Hahn, Oswalt and Scott all add very nice comedic touches and Penn captures the rugged fearlessness of a world weary photographer who recognizes the depth of Mitty. If you are a fan of Thurber’s short story then you must know artistic license is taken to turn it in to full length feature. Screenwriter Steven Conrad provides Life magazine as a foundation, and some of the most beautiful places on earth during the journey. Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh delivers these locations to us in stunning fashion. The movie is beautiful to look, and thanks to the score from Theodore Shapiro, it’s complimented by well fitting music. Rated PG. Opens Dec. 25, 2013.

My rating: 4 out of 5 Heels

4 Heels