This week's movie releases (Rotten Tomatoes)

New in theaters this week

There is only one new film opening in wide release tomorrow: Out of the Furnace. Official blurb: "From Scott Cooper, the critically-acclaimed writer and director of Crazy Heart, comes a gripping and gritty drama about family, fate, circumstance, and justice. Russell Baze (Christian Bale) has a rough life: he works a dead-end blue collar job at the local steel mill by day, and cares for his terminally ill father by night. When Russell's brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) returns home from serving time in Iraq, he gets lured into one of the most ruthless crime rings in the Northeast and mysteriously disappears. The police fail to crack the case, so - with nothing left to lose - Russell takes matters into his own hands, putting his life on the line to seek justice for his brother. The impressive cast of Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson are rounded out by Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana and Sam Shepard." (53% positive reviews; 2100 theaters; rated R for "violence, language and drug content.")

It is not expected to be a barn-burner. It should take third place behind Frozen and Hunger Games, but it will be a distant third. Those two carry-over films should gross around $30M each, while Furnace will probably not hit double figures.

More interesting: the Coen Brothers' latest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, opens in NY/LA (four theaters only). It has earned 95% positive reviews. It is not scheduled to expand nationwide until the 20th.