New Movies Dec. 25-29: Samurais, Boxers, Stallone, Deniro, DiCaprio and More
by EGTheaters are already full of strong films as we approach Christmas day and the mid-week opening of several new films, so audiences will have plenty of choices as they make their way to the movies during the long holiday weekend.
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," which has won the box-office race for the past two weekends in a row, will finally face some new fantasy/action/adventure competition with the debut of Keanu Reeves' "47 Ronin"; the samurai flick isn't getting good reviews from critics, but it has good fan buzz ahead of its release.
"Anchorman 2," which came in second last weekend, is also going to face competition on the comedy front. "The Grudge Match" is a geezer-boxing comedy featuring Sylvester Stallone ("Rocky") and Robert Deniro ("Raging Bull"). "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a fantasy comedy starring Ben Stiller and Kristin Wiig. Both films will probably draw slightly older audiences than "Anchorman 2"; neither of them is winning over critics.
"Frozen" won't have any new competition in the family-movie arena, and it handily beat "Walking with Dinosaurs" last week, so it's still the only game in town for the little ones. Older audiences will have Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Wolf of Wall Street," though, which probably spells trouble for Tom Hanks and "Saving Mr. Banks."