A "Frozen" Box Office

2...1...2...3...2...1.  No we're not suffering from binary Tourettes-- that's the box office ranking trajectory of Disney's seemingly unstoppable Frozen, which in it's sixth week of national release tops the box office chart.  After a big opening in November, the animated film rebounded over the holidays, nearly stealing the thunder away from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  Surprising, especially in the blink-and-it's-gone normal track record for current films, Frozen rang supreme for the first weekend of the 2014.  The film, which is just a hop skip away from the $300 million mark, unseated the only new film in the marketplace-- Paranormal Activity: The Mark Ones-- and gave all the new and shiny Christmas toys a run for its money.

1. Frozen- $20.7 / -27% / $297.8 total
2. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones- $18.2 (NEW)
3. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug- $16.2 / -44% / $229.6 total
4. The Wolf of Wall Street- $13.4 / -27% / $63.2 total
5. American Hustle- $13.2 / -29% / $88.7 total
6. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues- $11.1 / -43% / $109.1 total
7. Saving Mr. Banks- $9.0 / -32% / $59.3 total
8. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty- $8.2 / -35% / $45.6 total
9. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire- $7.4 / -26% / $407.4 total
10. Grudge Match- $5.4 / -23% / $24.9 total
11. 47 Ronin- $5.4 / -49% / $32.6 total
12. Walking with Dinosaurs- $3.7 / -48% / $31.3 total
13. Tyler Perry's A Medea Christmas- $3.1 / -54% / $50.4 total
14. Philomena- $1.5 / -12% / $19.6 total
15. Inside Llewyn Davis- $1.1 / -5% / $6.9 total
16. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom- $1.1 / -50% / $6.9 total
17. Her- $0.7 / +11% / $2.9 total
18. Nebraska- $0.6 / -9% / $7.0 total
19. Believe- $0.5 / -71% / $5.9 total
20. The Book Thief- $0.5 / -11% / $19.1 total
21. Gravity- $0.5 / -1% / $255.6 total
22. Thor: The Dark World- $0.4 / -23% / $203.4 total
23. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2- $0.4 / -6% / $117.6 total
24. 12 Years a Slave- $0.3 / -12% / $38.4 total

LIMITED RELEASES

• August: Osage County- $0.1 / -21% / $0.4 total
• Lone Survivor- $0.08 / -8% / $0.3 total
• The Past- $0.04 / +17% / 0.1 total
• The Invisible Woman- $0.03 / -5% / $0.1 total

In other news, Martin Scorsese's controversy-laden The Wolf of Wall Street appears to be not quite in as much trouble as first predicted after a troubling post-Christmas decrease and a reported "C" rating from CinemaScore.  The film, which Musings and Stuff has plenty to write about (even though the Internet has pretty much exhausted the entire subject) is coming together nicely, and may even be a hit when all is said and done-- that the film cost a reported $100 million is a hard pill to swallow however.  David O. Russell's American Hustle, by contrast, traded spots with Wolf from the previous week, but his ABSCAM con job cost a far more manage $40 million and thus is already in more sturdy shape.  Neither is Saving Mr. Banks nor The Secret Life of Walter Mitty in quite the trouble previously predicted either-- awards may not be in the cards per se (though Emma Thompson is assured a Best Actress nomination at this point), but those are in decent shape as well.  Banks even has a chance to clear $100 million, while Mitty will perform better abroad, as most Ben Stiller films do.

In just a click of a heel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will top Iron Man 3 as the top selling movie of 2013 as well as become the highest grossing film in the franchise.  This is interesting on a few levels, but mostly due to the fun (sad) fact as pointed out by The Film Experience, as it will become the first movie since The Sound of Music all the way back in 1965 to be a years top seller exclusively headlined by a member of the fairer sex.  Jennifer Lawrence, with an Oscar already and a third nomination just around the corner surely isn't lacking for prizes, but that's deserving of something-- perhaps a tea party with Julie Andrews at the very least.

What did you see this weekend?