Weekend Box Office Report: November 29 – December 1, 2013

Thanksgiving weekend was filled with Hunger!

Between expanding waistlines and consumer frenzy over the long holiday weekend, people obviously also had plenty of time for moviegoing — THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE once again defeated all other contestants and won the Thanksgiving Quell with $74.5 million!

That amount only covers Friday through Sunday — the sequel actually swallowed up $110.1 million including Wednesday and Thanksgiving Day, breaking the records for both the three-day and the five-day holiday periods. THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE is already scratching at the $300 million mark domestically after just 10 days, and is up to $573 million worldwide. 

At this rate, CATCHING FIRE is on pace to slay the first HUNGER GAMES' domestic total of $408 million and global finish of $691.2 million — and is even a contender to join the Billion Dollar Club.

There wasn't a chilly reception for Disney's FROZEN, which placed a strong second with $66.7 million for the three-day and $92.6 million for the five-day, also blasting past the previous record-holder for both (HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE was the champ before this week).

The three-day take for FROZEN skated past the last two computer-animated features from Disney Animation Studios, TANGLED and WRECK-IT RALPH (both opened to just under $50 million). Audiences adored the Mouse House's version of The Snow Queen fairy tale, embracing the icy antics with an 'A+' CinemaScore (critics were also cool with it, going by the 84% Rotten Tomatoes rating).

Landing in third was THOR: THE DARK WORLD with $15.4 million in its fourth weekend. The Thunder God still strains to reach the $200 million mark domestically, but the sequel is up to $591.1 million worldwide and should brush past IRON MAN 2's $623.9 million global total to become Marvel's third-biggest movie.

THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY remained an attractive option in fourth with $8.3 million, ahead of the new Jason Stathan actioner HOMEFRONT, which opened in fifth with $6.9 million (and just under $10 million since Wednesday). The British headkicker plus a James Franco villain turn and a Sly Stallone script didn't hold much appeal for holiday crowds, who gave it a straight 'B' CinemaScore (critics beat it down with 35% on Rotten Tomatoes).

Vince Vaughn's fertile comedy DELIVERY MAN slipped to sixth with $6.9 million, while the WWII drama THE BOOK THIEF expanded wide and came in seventh with $4.8 million. Forest Whitaker may have gained plenty of attention earlier in the year with THE BUTLER, but it didn't help BLACK NATIVITY — despite an 'A-' CinemaScore, the adaptation of the popular biblical stage musical opened in eighth with $3.8 million (and $5 million since Wednesday). Awards-friendly films PHILOMENA and 12 YEARS A SLAVE closed out the Top 10.

Spike Lee's OLDBOY may as well have stayed locked up — the director's remake of the infamous 2003 Korean film (itself based on a manga) was released on 583 screens and only collected $1.2 million since Wednesday… putting it in 17th place. For further perspective, its per-screen average was nearly the same as LAST VEGAS in its fifth week and CAPTAIN PHILLIPS in its eighth. Wonder if that aborted Will Smith/Steven Spielberg version would have fared any better…

Also outside the chart, taking their leave were FREE BIRDS, JACKASS PRESENTS BAD GRANDPA, LAST VEGAS, GRAVITY (at $615 million worldwide), CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (which crossed the $100 million mark this week), and DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, which is up to $10.2 million. The Idris Elba-starring biopic MANDELA: THE LONG WALK opened in limited release to a decent $25k per-screen average.

Next weekend brings Christian Bale and Casey Affleck in the thriller OUT OF THE FURNACE, and the Coen Brothers' latest INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS gets a limited release.

What December release are you most interested in seeing? VOTE HERE!