AFTER-THANKSGIVING SLUMP EXPECTED AT BOX OFFICE

The box office is expected to cool off significantly this weekend with Relativity Media’s Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson and Casey Affleck, the only film to open wide. It’s not likely to be able to hold off holdovers The Hunger Games: Catching Fire or Frozen. Those two films, say analysts, are likely to battle for first place, with Frozen given a slight edge. Each is expected to earn around $30-35 million, while Furnace will likely wind up a distant third with around $6-9 million. Opening in limited release at two theaters in New York and two in Los Angeles, the Coen Bros.’ well-reviewed Inside Llewyn Davis is expected to play to packed houses, particularly in New York, where the movie is set. Distribution executives at the major studios long ago reached the conclusion that the weekend after Thanksgiving is jinxed and avoid releasing any new films at that time or serve up leftover turkeys. But some analysts have wondered whether they have simply engaged in fulfilling their own prophecies of doom.