There was only 1 new release in the States this week, THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY, but as it’s neither sci-fi, horror or fantasy it isn’t cool enough for us to care about. So we’ve been left with possibly the quietest box office week of the year. Here goes…

To the surprise of literally nobody, THOR: THE DARK WORLD repeated in top spot. With a $36.6 million weekend, the comic-book sequel has pulled in a 10-day total of $145.1 million. The future is looking generally rosy for Marvel’s pantheon of Asgardians, with the film currently set for a $225 domestic total, and while the 57% decrease is steeper than its predecessor’s initial 47% drop, it puts THOR 2 on par with IRON MAN 3.

The AVENGERS bump continues to rule supreme it seems, but THOR’s real challenge will come next week with the sequel to those hungry hungry games.

Comfortably holding on to 2nd place is FREE BIRDS. In its third week it picked up $8.1 million (marking a remarkably strong drop of just 27%) for a gross of $46.5 million. If it continues holding in this vein, the animated flick should gross double its production budget of $28 million.

Moving up one place into 3rd following ENDER’S GAME continued implosion, GRAVITY pulled in an extra $6.1 million in its 7th weekend. The sci-fi phenomenon has grossed $240.4 million in the USA and has (deservedly) passed the $500 million mark worldwide.

ENDER’S GAME meanwhile, well… it probably all seems like the worst kind of hangover to Ford and co. In 3 weeks it’s grossed just $53.4 million after a $6.0 million weekend. Considering its $110 million production budget, ENDER’S GAME is now a resolute swing and a miss.

Despite releasing into 80 more cinemas and holding on in 5th place, Richard Curtis’ ABOUT TIME fell by 30% to $3.3 million in its third week.

As a final note, narrated-by-Death-war-flick adaptation THE BOOK THIEF took the next step in its incremental release strategy, expanding to 29 theatres and picking up $421k. We’re approaching awards season, ladies and gents, so expect a lot of this ‘periodic national release’ thang.

Domestic Top 10 (US)

1. Thor: The Dark World  – $36.6m – ($145.1m gross)

2. Free Birds – $8.1m – ($46.5m gross)

3. Gravity – $6.1m – ($240.4m gross)

4. Ender’s Game – $6.0m – ($53.4m gross)

5. About Time – $3.3m – ($11.4m gross)

6. Cloudy 2 – $2.0m – ($113.0m gross)

7. Carrie – $560k – ($35.0m gross)

8. Escape Plan – $550k – ($24.1m gross)

9. The Book Thief – $421k – ($564k gross)

10. Despicable Me 2 – $418k – ($366.0m gross)

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