It was a strong MLK holiday weekend for movie ticket sales, with a strong domestic debut for Open Road Films’ animated feature The Nut Job while Disney’s Frozen continued to rack up big numbers worldwide.
The Nut Job came in third for the weekend with a $20.5 million opening, putting it just behind last week’s top film Lone Survivor at $23 million. Both were topped by Universal’s comedy Ride Along, which set an MLK weekend record with a $41.2 million debut.
The Nut Job exceeded projects significantly and is expected to pick up about $27 million through the Monday holiday.
Frozen earned just under $12 million for a strong showing in its ninth weekend of release to bring its domestic total to $332 million. Overseas, it earned an estimated $24.6 million in 52 territories including an $8.9 million opening in South Korea.
Frozen has now grossed an estimated $426 million overseas for a worldwide total of $759 million.
Other animated and visual-effects heavy movies in release this past weekend include: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which earned $3.9 million over the weekend for $258 million domestic and $833 million worldwide; Gravity, with $1.9 million in its 16th weekend for $258 million domestic and $677 million worldwide; Fox’s Walking with Dinosaurs, which grossed $350,000 in its fifth weekend of release for a $34 million domestic tally and $105 million worldwide fume; and Sony’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, earning $315,000 in its 17th weekend for a $118 million domestic total and $255 million worldwide cume.
