Box Office: 'Lone Survivor' Melts Down 'Frozen' as 'Hercules' Flops

1. Lone Survivor- $38.5M/$38.8M
In its third week of release, after an Oscar-qualifying run late last month, Lone Survivor has powered into first place with $38.5M. Hailed in ads as the best war film since Saving Private Ryan, has snagged the second-highest January debut ever, and can lay claim to 2014's first genuine hit.  While this is a nice bounce back for director Peter Berg, this is familiar territory for star Mark Wahlberg, who has been one of the most consistently bankable stars over the last few years. The only real exception was Broken City, which opened around this same time in 2013 and tanked with only $19M for its entire run. It's also a solid return for Taylor Kitsch, who took a crushing hit with duds John Carter, Savages, and Berg's Battleship.  War films of had it rough of late, especially those focusing on the Middle Eastern conflict, but Lone Survivor won over audiences and earned an 'A+' Cinemascore, suggesting this could be sticking around through the desolate January month.
2. Frozen- $15M/$317.6M
At $317M Frozen has now surpassed the original domestic run of 1994's The Lion King, so it's in very good company.
3. The Wolf of Wall Street- $9M/$78.5M
4. The Legend of Hercules- $8.6M
Perhaps it's time for studios to rethink casting Twilight hunks as action heroes? Taylor Lautner failed miserably (at least domestically) with Abduction, and now Kellan Lutz has managed to defeat Hercules in a way his 'Twelve Labors' couldn't. Nobody expected much from The Legend of Hercules, which inexplicably cost $70M but looks worse than an episode of Spartacus, and so it's a wonder that it was ever greenlit in the first place. Lutz isn't a star by any measure, and poor Renny Harlin is still smarting from Cutthroat Island twenty years ago. It currently stands at an embarrassing 2% on Rotten Tomatoes, and only managed a 'B-' Cinemascore so those who saw it weren't really into it. It's always a risky gamble when two similar movies come out within months of one another (see Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down), and audiences may have decided to wait until Dwayne Johnson's Hercules movie comes out.
5. American Hustle- $8.6M/$101.5M
6. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug- $8M/$242.2M
7. August: Osage County- $7.3M/$7.8M
Weinstein is banking on awards buzz for Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts to power August: Osage County as it expands into wider release. The star-studded adaptation of Tracy Letts' hit play got off to a solid start with a sizable $8K per site average, and if those Oscar nominations come next week it should do decent business.
8. Saving Mr. Banks- $6.5M/$68.9M
9. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones- $6.3M/$28.4M
Tumbling 65% after a mediocre debut, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is well on its way to being the lowest-grossing of the franchise.
10. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues- $6.1M/$118.5M