'Frozen,' 'Hobbit 2,' 'Hustle' and 'Wolf' fight it out at box office

‘Frozen,’ ‘Hobbit 2,’ ‘Hustle’ and ‘Wolf’ fight it out at box office

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These are the women of Disney’s animation studios. Jennifer Lee, front right, one of the directors of Disney Animation’s “Frozen” and Lauren MacMullan, front left, director of “Get a Horse,” a short film coming out soon, are surrounded by other women who work on animation projects at the Walt Disney Studios. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

By Mark Olsen

Dec. 28, 2013 12:42 PM PT

The extended frame provided by Wednesday’s Christmas holiday meant a long, topsy-turvy weekend at the box office. A mix of powerhouse holdovers with a handful of new releases made for an unusual mix in the rankings, with “Frozen,” “Hobbit 2,” “Anchorman 2,” “American Hustle” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” all in play.

Disney’s animated family hit “Frozen,” in its sixth week of release took in an estimated $10.3 million on Friday in more than 3,300 theaters, pushing it toward an estimated cumulative gross of nearly $230 million.

“The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug” brought in an estimated $10.1 million on Friday, but still stands poised to win the weekend overall, pushing its estimated domestic total to $170.6 million.

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If “Hobbit 2” does win the weekend it will be its third consecutive weekend atop the box-office charts, and make it the third three-peat winner of the year. Both “Gravity” and “Fast And Furious 6” pulled off a trio of wins earlier in the year.

Paramount’s “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” brought in estimated $7.1 million on Friday from about 3,500 locations.

Then there was a seeming box-office battle between a pair of Oscar hopefuls. Sony’s “American Hustle” took in an estimated $6.4 million on Friday at about 2500 locations, for an estimated cumulative total of more than $61 million in its second week of national release.

Paramount opened Martin Scorsese’s latest collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf Of Wall Street,” on Christmas Day and on Friday took in an estimated $6.3 million at more than 2,500 locations. The film, generating controversy for its extreme portrait of greed and excess, looks to have a estimated cumulative total of more than $34 million by the end of the weekend.

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Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” the behind-the-scenes story of the making of the classic “Mary Poppins,” brought in an estimated $4.7 million on Friday on its way to an estimated total nearing $29 million.

Ben Stiller’s adaptation of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” released Christmas Day by 20th Century Fox, brought in an estimated $4.5 million, looking to finish the weekend with an estimated total of $26 million.

“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” brought in an estimated $3.6 million Friday, pushing its total above $390 million.

Universal’s long-delayed Keanu Reeves samurai story “47 Ronin” brought in an estimated $3.4 million Friday, looking to finish the weekend at around $20 million.

The Sylvester Stallone/Robert De Niro boxing story “Grudge Match,” which Warner Bros. opened Christmas Day, brought in an estimated $2.4 on Friday and will struggle to get past $14 million by the end of the weekend.

Overall this looks to be a big weekend for Hollywood, as the total box office could top out above $210 million.

ALSO:

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Red Granite picks up movies dropped by studios

Follow Mark Olsen on Twitter: @IndieFocus