FROZEN KEEPS BOX OFFICE WARM

The weekend following the Thanksgiving holiday is usually a time of barely warm leftovers. Such was the case this past weekend, although the leftovers were a bit warmer than usual. With $31.62 million in ticket sales, Disney’s animated family film Frozen leapfrogged over Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to take over first place. Catching Fire placed second with $26.19 million, according to final studio figures released on Sunday. By contrast, the comparable weekend a year ago saw Sony’s 007 movie Skyfall in first place with $10.78 million, slightly ahead of DreamWorks Animation/Paramount Pictures’ Rise of the Guardians with $10.40 million. Overall, the box office was up 20 percent over the same weekend in 2012. Still, it amounted to the calm before the storm expected next weekend with the arrival of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which some forecasters are predicting could break box office records.