Box office roundup – Jan. 12, 2014 – "Lone Survivor" is lonely at the top

1. Lone Survivor – $38.5 million [debut week] Mark Wahlberg’s military drama fared better than his previous three films, “Pain and Gain,” ($20 million) “2 Guns” ($27 million) and “Broken City,” ($8 million) and was his best opening since 2012’s “Ted” ($54 million). It’d been awhile since there was a war theme film – 2012’s “Zero Dark Thirty” – so you could speculate audiences were in the mood for a straight up action flick after December’s heavy round of Oscar contenders.

2. Frozen – $15.1 million [8th week; $317.7 million in total] Disney’s winter winner fell to second place, but again proves it’s incredible staying power despite several new releases.

3. The Wolf of Wall Street – $9 million [3rd week; $78.5 million] Leonardo DiCaprio’s comedy drama held up well in its third week as it closes in on $100 million.

4. American Hustle – $8.6 million [5th week; $101.5 million] The other big Oscar contender is steadily rolling along and held up well against this week’s new arrivals.

5. The Legend of Hercules – $8.6 million [debut week] The other big release of the week didn’t have the strength to do any better than the fifth spot.  Look for the $70 million flop to quickly drop from the Top 10.