Hong Kong Hong Kong Box Office

[Olive]

By noon, CF made 10,000.

[John Marston]

By noon, CF made 10,000.

 

 

so how much more wil it make in dollars. Last one made about $2.6m I believe

[Olive]

so how much more wil it make in dollars. Last one made about $2.6m I believe

+50% if CF has similar legs as THG.

[Bluebomb]

The White Storm: Can it deliver the goods against a behemoth?One of the biggest surprises of this winter is last week's champ. The White Storm roared to a $1.3m opening weekend and sent The Hunger Games tumbling down 56% on its 3rd weekend. It'll face a huge challenge when The Hobbit swarms into HK theaters in hopes of overthrowing the latest acting trio venture. One of the things going for The White Storm is the fact that prices are at normal levels. It does not have an added surcharge like The Hunger Games nor does it have a ridiculous fare hike ala The Hobbit 2. Maybe that will ensure it stabilizes with a sizable 2nd weekend take.The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug...will viewers tune in or shy away from the sequel?After a disappointing run for the first film, The Hobbit is back this year to take care of business. Last year, The Hobbit opened to a meager 1.48m despite having ticket prices set at record highs. It lost to the finale of Twilight on its 2nd weekend and fell hard after the holidays. It didn't even manage to beat Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King, which many expected it to beat.The Hobbit 2 has some incredible competition in The White Storm but also with early sneaks. Movie theaters are throwing everything but the kitchen sink to get people to watch movies and this is not doing The Hobbit 2 any favours. Ticket prices for The Hobbit 2 have eclipsed last year's records and are an earth-shattering $30-60 more than regular 3D priced movies. If we have learned anything from last year, it's that moviegoers aren't going to spend that much more for a non-event movie. Admissions have been tepid and are behind The White Storm at most places.UA Times Square re-opens...under a new name?!After the crushing blow of having the rug pulled out from under them, UA Times Square has re-opened but this time it's been re-branded under the new name 'Cine Times'. The new theater boasts around 900 leather seats, 5 theaters altogether and 2 of them capable of playing Dolby Atmos versions of movies. Early returns have been a little disappointing but maybe business will pick up during the holidays.Early screenings...we've got them. You (don't) want them.In an effort to engage moviegoers to head to the theater, theaters will offer many early screenings to films releasing this month. Here's the list:Free Birds (Special Screenings: Dec 7/8 - Dec 12 release)Firestorm (Special Screenings: Dec 14 - Dec 19 release)The Wind Rises (Special Screenings: Dec 14/15 - Dec 19 release)Frozen (Special Screenings: Dec 14/15 - Dec 19 release)The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Special Screenings: Dec 21 - Dec 25 release)The 3 December 19 films will be of considerable interest as it will squeeze into The Hobbit/The White Storm showings this weekend. It will also give us an early preview into Christmas week. Tops on my watch list will be The Wind Rises. I am excited about this one's box office prospects. 2nd would have to be Firestorm but can 2 HK movies survive at once together with big Hollywood films?2013 Surprises...just how many will there be?In compiling the list for this year's biggest surprises, I have come to the conclusion that there is just too many to choose from. Instead of the usual 10, this year I will be making a top 20 list.

[SchumacherFTW]

BLUEBOMB! Good to see you again!

[Sam]

Glad to see you turned up once in a while Bluebomb. Miss you :)Great report and analysis per usual. Looking forward to your Top 20 surprises. I assumed they're all gonna be good surprises and not unexpected flops/underperformers, etc...

[Olive]

th2 OD admissions about down 10% from th1.

[Leyla]

thx Bluebomb U're back again!

bad news for dos

same as South Korea  im not pleased

[Plain Old Tele]

Welcome back, Bluebomb.

[Bluebomb]

Weekend update#1: The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug managed to pull away from The White Storm this weekend thanks to an increase on Sunday, however opening weekend admissions are down close to 15% from TH: An Unexpected Journey. In gross, it'll make about $1.35m this weekend.#2: The White Storm held on tight to #2 as it recorded higher attendance than The Hobbit on Thursday and Friday. It is looking at a weekend of about $775,000 for a 2 week total of $2.7m. 4m should happen.For the 'sneak'ers:The Wind Rises blew through the cold and scored an early victory in admissions over Frozen. In gross, it turned out to be a close call due to Frozen's 3D prices but The Wind Rises gets an early Christmas present.It's not all bad news for Frozen though. Frozen outperformed Wreck-It Ralph's sneaks from last year with 12,500 admissions this weekend. I guess people were more receptive to Frozen after the success of Wreck-It Ralph, however, word of mouth is not as strong as Wreck-It Ralph or The Wind Rises. It remains to be seen if this cartoon can overtake Wreck-It Ralph's title as the biggest winter animated release ever but with 4 family films out next weekend, I'm not convinced that it can.Both The Wind Rises and Frozen will carry on with sneaks during the week so this battle will stretch into both of their opening weekends.As for Firestorm, the new Andy Lau flick, it has gotten a lot of hype and promotion. It held sneak previews in 4 theaters and retained a 95%+ capacity rate at all of them. This will be the film to beat over Christmas week, however, The White Storm still has momentum so it'll be interesting to see if one cancels out the other or if they both struggle under the weight of the competition and each other or if both can survive.

 

Glad to see you turned up once in a while Bluebomb. Miss you :)Great report and analysis per usual. Looking forward to your Top 20 surprises. I assumed they're all gonna be good surprises and not unexpected flops/underperformers, etc...

 

No, it will be a mix of both good and bad.

 

Top 20 Surprises List (2013 edition)*This list is incomplete. Do not take the list below as final.These are the contenders for this year's top 20 list.The GrandmasterCloud AtlasWarm BodiesGangster SquadLost in ThailandA Good Day to Die HardJourney to the West: Conquering the DemonsSilver Linings PlaybookOz: The Great and PowerfulG.I. Joe: RetaliationThe CroodsFinding Mr. RightIron Man 3The CallPee Mak Phra KhanongSearching for Sugar ManFast & Furious 6American Dreams in ChinaNow You See MeWorld War ZMan of SteelDespicable Me 2Blind DetectiveMonsters UniversityPacific RimThe WolverineThe Smurfs 2The Way We DanceThe Stolen YearsSadako 2GravityInfernoAbout TimeRigor MortisThor: The Dark WorldEscape PlanThe White StormOne of the names here will be the #1 surprise of 2013. Who will it be?

Edited December 15, 2013 by Bluebomb

[SentryTrans]

TF4 could make 150m HK$! 

[Bluebomb]

TF4 could make 150m HK$! 

It could happen but it won't.

 

Thursday Schedules

Broadway

 

Palace APM
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Firestorm 3D - 8 showings (▲ 3)	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug 3D - 3 showings (▼ 5)	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
Firestorm - 13 showings (▲ 3)	No Breathing - 1 showing (▼ 2)	Gintama The Final Chapter: Be Forever Yorozuya
Frozen (3D Can.) - 3 showings	Oshin - 1 showing (▼ 2)	Space Pirate Captain Harlock
Frozen (Can.) - 2 showings	The White Storm - 3 showings (▼ 8)	Carrie
The Wind Rises (Jap.) - 5 showings		The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Wind Rises (Can.) - 3 showings (▼ 5)
Walking With Dinosaurs (3D Can.) - 2 showings
Walking With Dinosaurs (Can.) - 1 showing

Festival Walk
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Firestorm 3D - 6 showings (▲ 2)	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug 3D - 3 showings (▼ 6)	No Breathing
Firestorm - 11 showings (▲ 2)	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug - 1 showing (▼ 3)	Escape Plan
Frozen (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▲ 1)	Free Birds (Can.) - 1 showing (▼ 2)
Frozen (3D Eng.) - 3 showings (▲ 1)	Oshin - 1 showing (▼ 4)
Frozen (Can.) - 1 showing	The White Storm - 3 showings (▼ 6)
The Wind Rises (Jap.) - 4 showings (▲ 3)	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - 1 showing (▼ 3)
The Wind Rises (Can.) - 3 showings (▲ 1)	Gravity 3D - 1 showing (=)
Walking With Dinosaurs (3D Can.) - 1 showing
Walking With Dinosaurs (3D Eng.) - 2 showings
Walking With Dinosaurs (Can.) - 1 showing

UA

Langham Place
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Firestorm 3D - 11 showings (▲ 5)	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (3D HFR) - 4 showings (▼ 6)	No Breathing
Frozen (3D Can.) - 3 showings (▲ 2)	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug 3D - 5 showings (▼ 7)	Gintama The Final Chapter: Be Forever Yorozuya
Frozen (Can.) - 1 showing	The White Storm - 9 showings (▼ 11)
The Wind Rises (Jap.) - 4 showings (▲ 3)	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - 1 showing (▼ 3)
The Wind Rises (Can.) - 2 showings (▲ 1)
Walking With Dinosaurs (3D Can.) - 2 showings
Walking With Dinosaurs (Can.) - 1 showing

Cine Times
New	Holdovers	Leaving
Firestorm 3D - 6 showings (▲ 2)	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (3D Atmos) - 4 showings (▼ 6)	No Breathing
Firestorm - 2 showings	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (3D HFR) - 2 showings (=)	The White Storm
Frozen (3D Can.) - 2 showings (▼ 3)	The White Storm (Atmos) - 4 showings (▲ 2)	Oshin
Frozen (3D Eng.) - 2 showings (▲ 1)		The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Wind Rises (Jap.) - 4 showings (▲ 2)
The Wind Rises (Can.) - 1 showing (▼ 2)
Walking With Dinosaurs (3D Eng.) - 2 showings

Firestorm will dominate Broadway/AMC screens as its an EDKO film. Most theaters there have allocated 3 screens to Firestorm (1 for 3D, 2 for 2D, with 2 of the biggest screens going to it). The big surprise here is that 2D is getting more play than 3D. Usually 3D dwarfs over 2D but I think EDKO would rather capitalize on getting as much money as possible than lose hundreds of thousands of dollars because of not enough screens for 2D. At UA, Firestorm is still the big movie but screens are more spread out. Early pre-sales are quite weak for Firestorm so other films could snatch bigger screens this weekend.

Meanwhile, The Wind Rises is making a big push for screens this week. After a fruitful early release on Saturday and Sunday, it more than doubled Frozen's admissions on Monday and is the "alternative" for viewers this week. Many will come to experience Hayao Miyazaki's last directorial film on the big screen and it should play very well into the holidays. Both Broadway/AMC and UA theater chains have allocated 1 screen to the Japanese anime in the 3rd or 4th biggest screens but if its robust pre-sales continue and Firestorm keeps on having problems with pre-sales, we could see a slight shift this weekend.

Another cartoon, this time a Hollywood one, debuted with good sneak previews last weekend. Although Frozen pulled out a victory over Wreck-It Ralph's sneaks, all signs point to a weaker finish in total. Screens at both Broadway/AMC and UA have it in the 4th biggest screens and even sharing a screen with another film. Admissions is behind The Wind Rises although weekday admissions are a lot weaker than weekend. Last Sunday, it jumped 20%+ from Saturday. A bit of good news for Frozen is that Golden Harvest is supporting it over The Wind Rises. It's not much but it's something.

Walking with Dinosaurs got shafted. I guess prehistoric creatures just don't interest Hong Kong crowds. This one is getting just 2-3 showtimes at almost every location.

As for holdovers, The Hobbit 2 is getting mixed feedback from different theater chains. The more expensive theaters are holding onto The Hobbit 2 more with it getting about 4-5 showtimes whereas rural theaters are dumping this for new movies or giving it a measly showtime in the morning. Theater owners are definitely not in a forgiving mood this winter. After last year's disappointing venture with The Hobbit and excessive ticket pricing, theaters are not going through that same process again.

The White Storm is getting crushed by Firestorm at Broadway/AMC but has carved out a few showtimes or even 1 screen at UA/MCL/GH. It had a pretty decent 2nd weekend drop so theaters aren't to kick it out over a new film just yet.

No Breathing and Free Birds are the big losers this week. No Breathing gasped for air on opening weekend and has been holding its breath ever since. Free Birds will get attacked from all sides this week with 3 different types of family films lined up.

[Bluebomb]

Thursday pre-sales at Langham Place for the expected top 6 movies

Langham Place
	Firestorm 3D					Frozen	(all v.)				The Wind Rises	(all v.)				The White Storm					Walking With Dinosaurs	(all v.)				The Hobbit	(all v.)
Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled	Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled	Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled	Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled	Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled	Day	Time	Seats sold	Seats available	% filled
Dec. 19	9:10 AM	3	202	1.49%	Dec. 19	9:10 AM	2	191	1.05%	Dec. 19	9:05 AM	20	180	11.11%	Dec. 19	9:00 AM	3	202	1.49%	Dec. 19	9:00 AM	1	180	0.56%	Dec. 19	8:50 AM	5	187	2.67%
	11:20 AM	4	202	1.98%		11:50 AM	3	191	1.57%		10:45 AM	5	180	2.78%		11:20 AM	4	191	2.09%		11:35 AM	4	202	1.98%		11:30 AM	10	180	5.56%
	1:30 PM	9	202	4.46%		1:15 PM	2	180	1.11%		2:00 PM	44	191	23.04%		1:55 PM	12	191	6.28%		3:25 PM	9	176	5.11%		1:20 PM	4	202	1.98%
	3:40 PM	11	202	5.45%		5:50 PM	12	180	6.67%		4:30 PM	37	191	19.37%		4:30 PM	12	191	6.28%							4:20 PM	18	202	8.91%
	5:50 PM	22	202	10.89%							7:20 PM	124	180	68.89%		5:15 PM	14	180	7.78%							7:00 PM	44	187	23.53%
	7:20 PM	26	202	12.87%							9:50 PM	69	180	38.33%		7:10 PM	63	191	32.98%							9:30 PM	24	202	11.88%
	8:00 PM	63	202	31.19%												7:50 PM	113	180	62.78%							10:25 PM	15	180	8.33%
	9:45 PM	32	191	16.75%												10:00 PM	35	191	18.32%							12:15 AM	0	176	0.00%
	10:10 PM	26	202	12.87%												12:00 AM	0	191	0.00%							12:30 AM	0	202	0.00%
	12:20 AM	7	202	3.47%
	12:35 AM	0	187	0.00%
Total		203	2196	9.24%	Total		19	742	2.56%	Total		299	1102	27.13%	Total		256	1708	14.99%	Total		14	558	2.51%	Total		120	1718	6.98%

At the busiest theater in HK, Firestorm is doing pretty bad. 3D is mainly the sole cause to blame for the sluggish sales here as other theaters are reporting very high ticket sales for the 2D version. Frozen's pre-sales are horrible. It is doing slightly better elsewhere but it's still well behind Firestorm, The White Storm and The Wind Rises in admissions. The White Storm is holding its ground at Langham Place but because of the disparity between Broadway/AMC vs. all of the other theater chains, The White Storm will have trouble dropping less than 50% this weekend. Walking with Dinosaurs is a travesty. What a disaster. Hobbit 2's pre-sales continue to be poor but its high ticket prices will ensure that Hobbit places in the top 3 this weekend. The Wind Rises is doing stellar business. It will get a screen adjustment this weekend.

 

Edited December 18, 2013 by Bluebomb

[Michael Seng Wah]

Kind of unbelievable that Firestorm did so bad.

My friends went to watch The White Storm and Firestorm, all of them recommended me to watch. I am still doubting on that.

[Bluebomb]

Kind of unbelievable that Firestorm did so bad.

My friends went to watch The White Storm and Firestorm, all of them recommended me to watch. I am still doubting on that.

Firestorm is OK but The White Storm is pretty good IMO. Well worth it to watch.

 

December 19 WeekendThe top 6 this weekend all disappointed to varying degrees this weekend as none of them really took the ball and ran away with it this weekend. Box office was down about 15-20% from the same weekend last year.Firestorm was #1 but it had very good promotion and Andy Lau is coming off a fly-by in Cold War which was one of the big surprises of 2012. Weekend increase did not see much of a bump and on Monday, it barely beat Frozen in admissions. Altogether with the 4-day weekend and previews last weekend, it has made nearly $1.16m. It'll still pass 2.5m but 3-3.5m will be its end.In 2nd, The Hobbit couldn't find its legs and dropped around 50%. It has made 2.56m in 11 days but beating An Unexpected Journey is out of the question. 4m should happen although it will be a close race.The Wind Rises took #3. While it manage to beat out the much hyped Frozen, by Hayao Miyazaki standards, it was a ho-hum performance. Even though it placed 2nd in admissions on Thursday, its screens got cut in favour of Frozen and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Admissions have faded a bit and reviews have reflected the slumping admissions on Monday. Though admissions have not exceeded expectations, it will hold very well on its 2nd weekend. So far it has made $644,000 and 2m is at least assured but for myself and even theater operators, we all were expecting more from Hayao Miyazaki's final directorial film.Frozen landed in 4th. It had very strong marketing and theaters were relying on Frozen to carry the kids crowd this weekend but it never materialized. Theaters placed this in the biggest screens in the afternoon but pre-sales were pretty weak, suggesting that many families were not interested. Including week long sneaks, it has amassed just $580,000. It is already behind Wreck-It Ralph's running total and will fall hard after the holidays are over. Pending final grosses, through the December 12/13 weekend, Hong Kong is the only territory (foreign or domestic) where Frozen did not beat Wreck It Ralph's opening weekend. Also that statistic is made worse when you compare Frozen's week-long sneaks to Wreck It Ralph's weekend previews. Frozen's previews did it a disservice as this allowed negative word of mouth to spread through to this week. Reviews are middling and I don't expect it to last very long.The White Storm was #5. It got steamrolled by Firestorm at Broadway/AMC but managed a high admissions rate per showing. In 18 days, it has already banked $3.35m and is looking ahead to 4m. I think it has enough momentum to get there.Walking With Dinosaurs checked in at #6 with only $128,000. Families were not interested in this and ignored it as they had plenty of kids movies to choose from this weekend. This is a disaster and should leave theaters in a jiffy with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 set to be fully released on Christmas.The Secret Life of Walter Mitty got an early start with previews beginning on Saturday. It did alright but it looks like it will just be another movie in the marketplace and not a big ticket item.

[Bluebomb]

	Wednesday adm.				December 25
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Firestorm	--	34,674	--	--
2	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	22,433	--	--
3	Frozen	--	21,790	--	--
4	The Wind Rises	--	16,844	--	--
5	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	15,482	--	--
6	The White Storm	--	9,538	--	--
7	Walking With Dinosaurs	--	8,003	--	--
8	As The Light Goes Out	--	7,393	--	--
9	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	7,390	--	--
10	47 Ronin	--	6,481	--	--

The top 10 is down 11% in admissions from last Christmas.

Firestorm closed off Christmas 2013 with a strong afternoon session and overtook Frozen. While its performance can be considered as good, there are cracks forming in its admissions. It is off about 9% from its opening Saturday admissions which is not great. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty did fairly well. Reviews coming in are very positive...a good sign for its run over the holiday period. Frozen has had pretty good pre-sales but walk-ins are not biting for the toon. Although it did better than Wreck-It Ralph on December 23 and Christmas Eve, it lost to Ralph by more than 3,000 admissions on Christmas Day. The Wind Rises has been surprising to track. Pre-sales tell a much different story from its screen count. It was downsized by theaters this week even though its pre-sales have been pretty good. Its admissions per showing is one of the highest (if not the highest) in the top 10. The Hobbit 2 continues to fall behind Frozen and The Wind Rises as each day passes. Not good at all. The White Storm is still doing very well even with Firestorm and As The Light Goes Out directly competing for screens. Walking With Dinosaurs has somewhat recovered from its sleepy start. Good sneaks for As The Light Goes Out. OK for Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Awful for 47 Ronin.

Comparison of This Year's and Last Year's Top 5 Films on Christmas Day

Firestorm vs. Twilight BD2 (#1 film): -12.2%
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty vs. Les Misérables (Christmas Day opener): -2.7%
Frozen vs. Wreck-It Ralph (Disney cartoon): -12.4%
The Wind Rises vs. CZ12: -29.2%
The Hobbit 2 vs. The Hobbit: -39.4%

Major ouch for The Hobbit 2. Yikes.

 

[Bluebomb]

Boxing Day Admissions

	Thursday adm.				December 26
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	22,761	--	+1.5%
2	Firestorm	--	21,632	--	-37.6%
3	Frozen	--	18,950	--	-13.0%
4	The Wind Rises	--	14,328	--	-14.9%
5	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	11,338	--	-26.8%
6	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	8,387	--	+13.5%
7	As The Light Goes Out	--	8,245	--	+11.5%
8	47 Ronin	--	7,363	--	+13.6%
9	Walking With Dinosaurs	--	6,578	--	-17.8%
10	The White Storm	--	5,910	--	-38.0%

All the Christmas Day openers increased. Very good for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This is turning out to be the lone bright spot of the past 2 days. For the holdovers, it was the complete opposite, as all of them fell more than 10% from Christmas. Firestorm descended back to earth. Huge admissions loss from Christmas Day (-13,000 admissions). Not great for Frozen. It only increased by 5,800 admissions from pre-sales to final numbers. It's still better than The Wind Rises which only managed a meager 3,500 admissions from walk-ins. The Hobbit 2 blew more than a quarter in admissions from Christmas. Although falling harder than most is to be expected for The Hobbit, The Hobbit 2 nearly doubled its admissions % loss from The Hobbit on Boxing Day last year. OK for Cloudy 2. Pretty good for As The Light Goes Out. It is not getting much Broadway/AMC support at all and many theaters are giving it just 1 or 2 showtimes elsewhere so it is off to a fiery start so far. Not good for 47 Ronin. Not good for Walking With Dinosaurs. The White Storm has had its showtimes cut ever since Christmas and it has been left with very late or very early showtimes. It has taken a huge dive the past week.

Compare this with the holds from last year's top 10 on December 26. Last year, 5 films scored drops below 10% and 8 films eased less than 20%. This year, all holdovers knocked off 13% or more from their Christmas Day admissions.

	Saturday				December 28
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	21,424	--	--
2	Firestorm	--	13,154	--	--
3	Frozen	--	11,387	--	--
4	The Wind Rises	--	10,476	--	--
5	As The Light Goes Out	--	8,479	--	--
6	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	8,171	--	--
7	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	6,200	--	--
8	47 Ronin	--	5,685	--	--
9	The White Storm	--	4,227	--	--
10	Walking With Dinosaurs	--	3,616	--	--

Strong for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Abysmal for Firestorm. It has eroded nearly 2/3 of its opening Saturday business in just 1 week. Not good for Frozen or The Wind Rises. For Frozen, the gap between itself and The Wind Rises has been shrinking since Christmas. The Wind Rises even managed to beat it in pre-sales today but it passed The Wind Rises due to having a tiny bit better walk-ins than the Japanese anime. Meanwhile, The Wind Rises has suffered due to a lack of theater support. Frozen has at least twice or almost triple the seat count of The Wind Rises but has not really pulled away from The Wind Rises its whole run. Incredible for As the Light Goes Out. Powerful sneaks so far considering the limited showtimes it has.

Dec. 28 (Saturday) vs. Boxing Day 2013 Comparison

Rank	Movie	Sat. adm.	% chg from Dec. 26
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	21,424	-4.5%
2	Firestorm	13,154	-62.1%
3	Frozen	11,387	-47.7%
4	The Wind Rises	10,476	-37.8%
5	As The Light Goes Out	8,479	+14.7%
6	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	8,171	-47.2%
7	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	6,200	-16.1%
8	47 Ronin	5,685	-12.3%
9	The White Storm	4,227	-55.7%
10	Walking With Dinosaurs	3,616	-54.8%

Quite good for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Disastrous for Firestorm. I have never seen such massive erosion before especially when the non-holiday in question is a Saturday. Frozen is just riding the holidays here. I see it dropping more than 65% next week. The Wind Rises isn't holding much better than Frozen but it could sneak out a few admission wins during the next week over Frozen. Wonderful for As The Light Goes Out.

 

[Leyla]

great that Mitty is doing OKish!

 

what will be DOS final total

my poor Smaugy suffers  me no likey

[Bluebomb]

great that Mitty is doing OKish!

 

what will be DOS final total

my poor Smaugy suffers  me no likey

Walter Mitty is doing very well. It will gross at least 2.5m with a good chance of 3m.

 

DOS will make around 4m but it'll be close. It made nearly 3m up to Christmas and should be around the 3.4m mark after Sunday. With 3 days left of money making to go, it should be around 3.6-3.7m after New Year's Day. I'm cautiously optimistic that it will crawl to 4m.

 

	Sunday adm.	(so far)			December 29
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	7,216	--	--
2	Frozen	--	7,052	--	--
3	The Wind Rises	--	6,705	--	--
4	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	4,346	--	--
5	Firestorm	--	3,921	--	--
6	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	2,995	--	--
7	As The Light Goes Out	--	2,728	--	--
8	Walking With Dinosaurs	--	2,239	--	--
9	47 Ronin	--	1,834	--	--
10	The White Storm	--	992	--	--

	Sunday				December 29
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	19,176	--	-10.5%
2	Frozen	--	12,507	--	+9.8%
3	Firestorm	--	12,015	--	-8.7%
4	The Wind Rises	--	10,910	--	+4.1%
5	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	8,042	--	-1.6%
6	As The Light Goes Out	--	7,897	--	-6.9%
7	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	6,950	--	+12.1%
8	47 Ronin	--	5,261	--	-7.5%
9	Walking With Dinosaurs	--	4,504	--	+24.6%
10	The White Storm	--	3,506	--	-17.1%

Good for Walter Mitty. All family films saw increases on Sunday. Solid increase for Frozen. Awful for Firestorm. Decent for The Wind Rises. Pretty good for The Hobbit 2. Still nice for As The Light Goes Out. Great for Cloudy 2. Another poor showing from 47 Ronin. Awesome for Walking With Dinosaurs. Dreadful for The White Storm.

 

	Monday adm.	(so far)			December 30
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Frozen	--	3,277	--	-53.5%
2	The Wind Rises	--	2,408	--	-64.1%
3	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	2,390	--	-66.9%
4	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	2,334	--	-46.3%
5	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	2,135	--	-28.7%
6	Firestorm	--	1,515	--	-61.4%
7	As The Light Goes Out	--	1,330	--	-51.2%
8	Walking With Dinosaurs	--	1,082	--	-51.7%
9	47 Ronin	--	907	--	-50.5%
10	The White Storm	--	763	--	-23.1%

Lethargic looking Monday. It's worthy of noting that Cloudy 2 dropped just 29% in pre-sales from Sunday. Dishonourable mention to Firestorm which continues its self-destruction, nearly getting passed by the preview showings of As The Light Goes Out.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Bluebomb

[Bluebomb]

December 26 Weekend Actuals

1. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - $1,289,687 (including previews)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - $386,906 (including previews)
47 Ronin - $335,318

Holdover Totals

Firestorm - $2,579,375
Frozen - $1,676,594
The Wind Rises - $1,289,687
Walking With Dinosaurs - $541,668
The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug - $3,482,156
The White Storm - will pass $3,869,063 on December 30

	Monday adm.				December 30
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	12,363	--	-35.5%
2	Frozen	--	7,695	--	-36.0%
3	As The Light Goes Out	--	6,450	--	-18.3%
4	Firestorm	--	6,265	--	-47.9%
5	The Wind Rises	--	6,139	--	-43.7%
6	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	4,914	--	-37.8%
7	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	4,610	--	-33.7%
8	Lan Kwai Fong 3	--	2,826	--	--
9	The White Storm	--	2,778	--	-20.8%
10	47 Ronin	--	2,710	--	-48.5%

	Tuesday adm.	(so far)			December 31
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	11,949	--	+400.0%
2	As The Light Goes Out	--	6,420	--	+382.7%
3	The Wind Rises	--	5,022	--	+108.6%
4	Frozen	--	5,020	--	+53.2%
5	Firestorm	--	4,653	--	+207.1%
6	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	3,860	--	+65.4%
7	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	3,042	--	+42.5%
8	The White Storm	--	2,344	--	+207.2%
9	47 Ronin	--	1,927	--	+112.5%
10	Lan Kwai Fong 3	--	1,866	--	--

	Tuesday adm.				December 31
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	23,539	--	+90.4%
2	Firestorm	--	12,521	--	+99.9%
3	As The Light Goes Out	--	10,274	--	+59.3%
4	Frozen	--	9,812	--	+27.5%
5	The Wind Rises	--	9,029	--	+47.1%
6	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	6,731	--	+37.0%
7	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	5,934	--	+28.7%
8	47 Ronin	--	4,290	--	+58.3%
9	Lan Kwai Fong 3	--	4,106	--	+45.3%
10	The White Storm	--	3,765	--	+35.5%

	Wednesday adm.	(so far)			January 1
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty	--	10,070	--	-15.7%
2	Frozen	--	7,438	--	+48.2%
3	As The Light Goes Out	--	7,329	--	+14.2%
4	The Wind Rises	--	5,856	--	+16.6%
5	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2	--	4,628	--	+52.1%
6	The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug	--	4,596	--	+19.1%
7	Firestorm	--	4,013	--	-13.8%
8	Walking With Dinosaurs	--	2,517	--	+60.5%
9	Lan Kwai Fong 3	--	2,465	--	+32.1%

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty continues its strong first week by eclipsing its opening day Christmas admissions on New Year's Eve. It follows Les Misérables from last year which also saw its biggest admissions on New Year's Eve. Walter Mitty will have passed 1.6m after New Year's Day and should be able to grab 3m.

Firestorm is really burning admissions fast. It has gone from a clear #1 on Christmas to out of the top 3 in a matter of days. As the Light Goes Out is doing great numbers. It sets up really well for its opening weekend beginning on Thursday. Frozen is doing OK but it should have done better. Having the worst increase on New Year's Eve does not help but it won't be enough to deter it from making 2m. As much as it will make 2m, that figure is a far cry from what it is doing in the rest of the world. The Wind Rises has been slightly disappointing. Reviews have not been great and there has been no holiday push the past week in admissions. This is unlikely to pass either Ponyo or Howl's Moving Castle and might not even gross 2m.

The Hobbit has been looking stagnant. There has not been much in the way of increases or decreases. 4m is there for the taking but it will come down to the wire. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 did very poorly. Including previews, it still lost to Cloudy 1's OW (without previews). Granted, there was a lot of competition this year from Frozen, The Wind Rises and Walking With Dinosaurs but Sony should have noticed this and moved it to another date instead of pushing it to come out a week after the other cartoons come out. 47 Ronin did terrible numbers. No one was really interested in a Japanese mythological movie about samurais and had plenty of other action offerings this year. Combine that with the troubling delays and re-shoots and weak response from the public and it's a huge recipe for disaster. Lan Kwai Fong 3 finally moved into the top 10 after spending several days at #11 with only previews. LKF 3 will move into full release on Thursday and reviews have been excellent. The White Storm is down but certainly not out. It continues to target 4m and will be looking to end its run with the winter crown.

Top 20 Surprises of 2013

I've got my list filled. Still waiting on 1 or 2 films performances before I can start counting down. What are your top 5 surprises from this year?