This weekend’s box office battle will once again be a song of ice and fire as holdovers “Frozen” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” compete for the top spot, with newcomer “Out of the Furnace” being left out in the cold.
Although business is being slowed down by low temperatures and heavy winter weather throughout much of the country, both “Fire” and “Frozen” are having solid weekends. The former picked up another $7.7 million, bringing its domestic total to a dazzling $317.3 million, while the Disney’s ‘toon musical earned another $6.8 on Friday. Its North American total now stands at $109.4 million.
The two films will compete for the top spot this weekend, and both should earn around $28 million for the weekend.
The news wasn’t so hot for “Out of the Furnace,” however.
Despite its starry cast — including Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson and Zoe Saldana — the grim thriller earned just $1.8 million from 2,101 screens on Friday, and will be lucky to top $6 million or so in its first weekend. The relatively low-budget drama has so far earned mixed reviews, and will have a hard time finding its way to audiences in this busy season.
Meanwhile, Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World” came in fourth place, picking up $1.2 million, and has earned $190.1 million domestically. It’s already out-grossed the 2011 original by more than $10 million.
The Vince Vaughn comedy “Delivery Man” is slowly recovering from a bad start at the box office but still has a long way to go just to break even. It earned $1.1 million on its third Friday, bringing its total to $22.1 million. The comedy reportedly cost around $26 million to produce.
Unsurprisingly, the Coen Brothers’ musical drama “Inside Llewyn Davis” is hitting a high note in limited release in New York and L.A.
The film — starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake — opened on just 4 screens to a massive $123,340, a $30,835 per-screen-average. It should earn over $320,000 for the weekend, before going wider next week.
Look for complete box office estimates for the weekend on Sunday.