Holiday films will likely stay strong in new year

With only one new film -- “The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death� -- ringing in the new year, holiday holdovers are likely dominate the top spots at the box office.

The battle for first will come down to the final “Hobbit� installment, Disney’s “Into the Woods� and Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken.� Though the 2014 box office is expected to end the year 5% below 2013’s $10.9 billion, the three films have helped give the industry a much needed end-of-the-year boost. Compared with the same holiday weekend last year, the box office was up 6.6%.

Peter Jackson’s has finished on top for the last two weekends. “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies� The New Line and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film could dominate the box office for a third weekend in a row, pulling in up to $25 million, according to people who have seen pre-release audience surveys.

The film, based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien, has made more than $180 million to date in the U.S. and Canada.

The musical “Into the Woods,� directed by Rob Marshall, is a modern twist on several fairy tales and stars Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine and Johnny Depp. Tracking suggests it will take in about $20 million, putting it neck and neck with “Unbroken.�

The film has generally positive reviews, with a solid 71% “fresh� rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a B grade from audience polling firm CinemaScore. It’s also scored three Golden Globe nominations.

Last weekend, it slightly edged out “Unbroken,� with about $46.14 million.

The Jolie-directed “Unbroken� cost about $65 million to make and is based on Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 nonfiction bestseller about Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner turned war hero.

Though the Universal-distributed film has received mixed reviews from critics, audiences gave it an A- grade on CinemaScore. It has a 51% “fresh� rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Newcomer “The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death� is set to appear in 2,602 theaters. Relativity Studios acquired the film, a sequel to the 2012 film starring Daniel Radcliffe, for about $1 million. It’s expected to pull in $9 million to $11 million in its opening weekend.

The Tom Harper-directed film follows a group of orphaned children who are forced to move from their home in London to the British countryside. The film stars Jeremy Irvine (of “War Horse�) and Helen McCrory (of “Skyfall�).

By comparison, “The Woman in Black� debuted to $21 million in February 2012 and went on to make $54.3 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Sony Pictures Entertainment said Wednesday that its Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy “The Interview� will roll out in additional independent theaters, for a total of about 580.

The studio released the film in 331 theaters on Christmas Day. It also offered the movie on several video-on-demand platforms beginning on Christmas Eve.

For more news on the entertainment industry, follow me @saba_h