| Date | |
|---|---|
| Author | DCM |
| Categories | cinemabox OfficeExhibitor News |
January is a month filled with great films and one that will surely rank among the year’s best topped the box office this weekend. Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave picked up the Golden Globe for Best Picture (drama) on Sunday night and took the number one spot to cap a great weekend. £2.5m from just 207 locations (including £41k from previews) is McQueen’s highest opening ever and higher than the entire run of his last film, Shame (£2m). With more awards surely heading this film’s way and an expansion into more cinemas over the coming weeks, 12 Years a Slave is assured a long and successful run.
American Hustle fell one place to second but still had a terrific hold, falling just 18% (once previews are removed) to £1.9m. The all-star crime caper has grossed £6.8m to date and after it picked up the Golden Globe for Best Picture (musical or comedy) and stars, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence won acting awards on Sunday night, it should have plenty left in the tank.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug showed signs of slowing down, falling 53% to £1.5m, but it was enough to take it past the £40m mark. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey finished on £52.3m, which is out of reach for the sequel but it’s still likely to close as the second highest grossing film released in 2013, behind Despicable Me 2.
Frozen fell to fourth but a further £1.3m takes the Disney animation to a remarkable £32.8m. Last Vegas rounded out the top five with a strong hold, falling just 29% to £1.3m and a very respectable cume of £4m.
On a strong weekend, two new entries landed in sixth and seventh both grossing over £1m. Colin Firth drama, The Railway Man may be overshadowed by its more lauded competition but a debut of £1.2m is a solid start for a film that’s likely to find much of its target audience attending midweek. In stark contrast thematically, Vince Vaughn vehicle Delivery Man opened with £1.1m. That’s also a solid start considering the film’s performance in the US to date.
Overall, the box office was down 27% from last weekend, which was boosted by previews, and down 30% from the same weekend last year, which saw musical behemoth, Les Misérables released in cinemas.
In the US, Mark Wahlberg action drama, Lone Survivor opened with an impressive $38.5m, which is the second highest January opening ever. The audience was 57% male and 57% were 30 years of age or older. Frozen took second, falling 23% to $15.1m and the animated hit now has a fantastic cume of $317.7m.
The Wolf of Wall Street took third place, falling 32% to $9m and a cume of $78.6m. With Leonardo DiCaprio picking up a Golden Globe last night, there should be more to come too. Fourth place is currently a tie between new entry, The Legend of Hercules and American Hustle with $8.6m. Hustle has now crossed the $100m mark and sits on a strong $101.6m cume.
