'Hobbit' Adumbrates 'Anchorman 2'

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'Hobbit' Adumbrates 'Anchorman 2'

The anticipated sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues drew droves of moviegoers over the weekend, but not enough to supplant another sequel for the top spot at the box office.


Anchorman
, starring Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell, and Paul Rudd, piled up an estimated $26.8 million domestic over the weekend, which wasn't enough to exceed last week's box-office topper The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.


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The Hobbit
raked in a steady $31.5 million in its second weekend at the box office, bringing its gross domestic total to $127.5 million. Although Anchorman finished below The Hobbit over the weekend, the film accumulated $40 million total from its Wednesday opening through Sunday.

With Anchorman occupying the No. 2 spot in the Top 10, the animated film Frozen was bumped down to No. 3, but still amassed $19.1 million for its fifth weekend in theaters to improve to $191.6 million in its impressive run.

A pair of newcomers—the David O. Russell crime drama American Hustle (4th: $19.1 million, $ 20.2 million) and Disney historical comedy-drama Saving Mr. Banks (5th: $9.3 million, $9.9 million)—were sandwiched in between Frozen and fellow box-office giant The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (6th: $8.8 million, $371.7 million).

Both films, which are receiving positive critical feedback, officially premiered last weekend in limited release but didn't begin their wide-release runs until this weekend.


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Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas
finished in seventh with an estimated $8.5 domestic for its second weekend in theaters to increase to $28.3 million. The previous Madea film, Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection, pulled in $65.7 million last year.

Another pair of newcomers—the family adventure film Walking with Dinosaurs (8th: $7.3 million) and the Hindi action thriller Dhoom 3 (9th: $3.3 million)—finished in tandem, followed by the $200-million-plus sequel Thor: The Dark World (10th: $1.3 million, $200.8 million), which rounded out the Top 10.