After weeks at the top, it has taken a tale of real-life heroism and military loss to displace Frozen from its place in the US box office charts. While Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor hasn’t quite picked up the awards chatter some expected before release, it has certainly resonated with American audiences, scoring a coveted A+ CinemaScore rating and a successful $38.5 million opening.
Frozen, meanwhile, made do with $15 million, though given that it’s already taken more than $317 million in the US alone, that’s no big worry for Disney Animation, especially as the film has just won the title of highest-grossing US release for the company over former champ The Lion King.
Third was The Wolf Of Wall Street, with Martin Scorsese’s latest jumping back up on place for $9 million – and that’s despite the controversy about Academy Awards voters walking out over its overt sex and drugs use.
Sadly for Kellan Lutz, January proved to be a cold, unforgiving place for his take on Hercules, with The Legend Of Hercules opening to a less-than-muscular $8.6 million in fourth. And that’s even after managing to beat the Dwayne Johnson/Brett Ratner version into cinemas. We have a feeling The Rock and The Rat may enjoy more success, particularly as they don’t have to fight the lingering stigma of January as a dumping ground for some movies.
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug continued to bring ‘em in, earning $8 million (or roughly 1 trillionth of the money the titular dragon likes to sleep on) in sixth, ahead of** August: Osage County**, which expanded its cinema count and exposed a much wider audience to Meryl Streep and co in the story of family grievances adapted by writer Tracy Letts from his play. It earned $7.3 million in seventh, and that figure meant it beat fellow indie expansion Her, with Spike Jonze’s latest missing the top 10 by one, landing in 11th with $5.4 million.
Back in the top 10, Saving Mr. Banks was eighth with $6.5 million, ahead of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, which took a sharp dive this week, plummeting down from its second place launch to ninth with $6.3 million added to the coffers. That put it just in front of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which earned $6.1 million, with $118.5 million in the bank across the pond after four weeks in the charts. Given its relatively thrifty $50 million budget, the profits should help buy plenty of shark food.
For more ranks and ratings, head to Box Office Mojo.