Monday Morning Box Office Report: The Hobbit 2 Holds Off Anchorman 2

It was a much closer race at the box office over the weekend than I would have expected asAnchorman 2: The Legend Continues opened strong and very nearly dethroned The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in its second week. Ron Burgundy’s second adventure technically earned slightly less than the first, but if you include the Wednesday start it earned almost $40 million over a five-day period. Some will probably argue that it should have done better considering that fans have been demanding this sequel for years, but I think it probably falls right in line with expectations.Frozen dropped to #3 in a photo finish with American Hustle, which also did incredibly well for its first weekend in wide release. Saving Mr. Banks rounded out the top 5. Elsewhere, Walking with Dinosaurs 3D was a colossal bomb, while Dhoom 3 set a new Bollywood record for best opening weekend in North America.