Weekend Box Office Dec. 21-23: 'Hobbit' Beats 'Anchorman 2'

Ron Burgundy had been so impossible to ignore during the months leading up to the release of "Anchorman 2," it seemed guaranteed that his movie would be at the top of the box-office race on the weekend before Christmas. But it wasn't.

The long-awaited sequel to 2004's "Anchorman" turned out to be not quite so long-awaited as we were led to believe. Over the five-day period from its opening last Wednesday through Sunday, "Anchorman 2" took in a respectable $40 million, but during the weekend itself, the film sold only $26.8 million worth of tickets. That wasn't enough to put it ahead of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," which took in $31.5 million. "Anchorman 2" performed in line with conservative expectations, but it fell short of optimistic analysts who thought it could rake in over $50 million by the end of the weekend. Its performance thus far has been comparable to that of its predecessor; the question now is whether it can hold on and continue to draw audiences beyond its largely young male fan base.

In the race for third place, "American Hustle," in its first week of wide release, fell short of "Frozen," but only barely; both films took in about $19 million. Tom Hanks' "Saving Mr. Banks" came in a distant fifth with $9.3 million, and animated reptile flick "Walking with Dinosaurs" was a major disappointment with a $7-million gross.