Weekend Wrap-Up
Taken 3 and Selma Strong; Holdovers Not
By John Hamann
January 11, 2015
Third spot goes to Into the Woods, as the now three-weekend-old Disney release begins to struggle after two weekends of Christmas bonuses. This weekend, Into the Woods (and the rest of the middle-tier films) came back to earth, as it earned $9.8 million, off 48% compared to the $18.7 million it earned last weekend. Still, it earned what it needed to over the holidays, and has a gross so far of $105.3 million. It crossed the $100 million mark on Saturday, its 17th day of release. Into the Woods cost a relatively cheap $50 million to make.
That puts The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies down to fourth place after repeating at number one over the last three weekends. Last weekend, Five Armies earned $21.7 million, but the shine has come off, and its audience appears to be, well, Taken. This weekend The Hobbit clincher earned $9.4 million, off a hurtful 57% compared to last weekend. The domestic tally for the Peter Jackson film has now reached $236.5 million stateside. It has also earned over a half-billion overseas.
Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken is fifth and like Into the Woods, drops back somewhat. Unbroken earned $8.4 million, off 54% compared to the $18.2 million it earned last weekend. Unbroken hit the $100 million mark on Sunday, its 18th day of release, and now has a total of $101.6 million.
Sixth goes to The Imitation Game, which holds extremely well thanks to an 812 theater expansion. A weekend ago, the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer earned $7.8 million. This weekend, The Imitation Game pulled in $7.6 million, down just 2%. Made for $14 million, this Weinstein release has now earned $40.8 million stateside and about $30 million from international venues. A couple of wins at the Globes tonight and a bucketful of Oscar nominations could make this one an even bigger hit.
Seventh is Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, now in its fourth weekend. After earning $14.5 million last weekend, the Ben Stiller flick got turned on its ear today, as it earned only $6.7 million, and fell a hurtful 54%. The $127 million feature has now picked up $99.5 million domestically and has crossed the $100 million mark overseas.
Eighth is Annie, which also plunges this weekend (thankfully). The musical earned only $4.9 million and declined 56%. Hopefully that’s the end of that one, as we have three new releases next weekend and American Sniper expands, hopefully taking out Annie. Give the Sony film a gross so far of $79.4 million versus a $65 million budget.
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death falls from a fourth place finish last weekend all the way down to ninth this weekend. It earned only $4.8 million and fell a troubling 68%. This was a $1 million pick up for Relativity, but they had to pay for the marketing in North America, which likely means the $22.3 million gross so far isn’t enough.
Tenth is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, as the funds wind down for this one as well. In play now for a full two months, Katniss and company earned another $3.8 million, off 50% compared to the previous frame. The holidays made a big difference for this one, as it earned around $40 million from after weekend five to today. The domestic total has now reached $329.5 million, and it should pass Guardians of the Galaxy sometime next weekend or just after to become the top North American release of 2014. The overseas amount has surpassed $370 million, and Mockingjay still has a release date in China to come in February.
Inherent Vice expanded its run to 645 screens this weekend, but audiences did not turn out. The Joaquin Phoenix starrer earned $2.9 million from those screens, giving it an average of $4,496. Made for $20 million, it has a long way to go to find a profit, but could become a cult favorite on VOD. So far, it has earned $4.5 million.
Overall, the box office is down from last year, but still in okay shape. A year ago, Lone Survivor expanded and took in a surprise $37.8 million, leading the top 12 to a total of $122.2 million. This year, the opener matched Lone Survivor, but the holdovers didn’t stand up, and the top 12 earned $112.6 million.
The third weekend of 2015 packs even more punch that this weekend did, as we have a trio of openers that should be strong, and an expanding film that could be this year’s Lone Survivor. New films include the very well-reviewed Paddington, a film that has already earned more than $100 million away from home; The Wedding Ringer, with Kevin Hart looking to replicate his Ride Along success from last year; and Blackhat, the Michael Mann thriller that stars Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth. Expanding is Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper with Bradley Cooper, which has earned almost $3 million, despite being out to only 4 screens.
1 |
Taken 3 |
Fox |
$40,400,000 |
New |
$40,400,000 |
2 |
Selma |
Paramount |
$11,200,000 |
+ 1669% |
$13,487,000 |
3 |
Into the Woods |
Disney |
$9,750,000 |
- 48% |
$105,272,000 |
4 |
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies |
WARNER BROS. |
$9,435,000 |
- 57% |
$236,517,000 |
5 |
Unbroken |
Universal |
$8,368,035 |
- 54% |
$101,602,305 |
6 |
The Imitation Game |
Weinstein Co. |
$7,624,000 |
- 2% |
$40,840,439 |
7 |
Night At the Museum: Secret of the Tomb |
Fox |
$6,700,000 |
- 54% |
$99,523,000 |
8 |
Annie |
Sony |
$4,919,000 |
- 56% |
$79,437,000 |
9 |
The Woman In Black 2 |
Relativity |
$4,825,000 |
- 68% |
$22,334,105 |
10 |
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1 |
Lionsgate |
$3,750,000 |
- 50% |
$329,524,553 |
11 |
Inherent Vice |
WARNER BROS. |
$2,900,000 |
+ 1054% |
$4,480,000 |
12 |
Wild |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$2,700,000 |
- 41% |
$30,338,000 |
|
Also Opening/Notables |
|
A Most Violent Year |
A24 |
$120,516 |
- 36% |
$457,473 |
|
The Gambler |
Paramount |
$2,350,000 |
- 63% |
$32,307,000 |
|
Big Eyes |
|
$1,300,000 |
- 50% |
$12,261,682 |
|
The Interview |
Sony |
$400,000 |
- 63% |
$5,750,000 |
|
American Sniper |
WARNER BROS. |
$555,000 |
- 18% |
$3,150,000 |
|
Leviathan |
Sony Classics |
$27,241 |
- 12% |
$120,760 |
|
Mr. Turner |
Sony Classics |
$242,177 |
+ 5% |
$1,290,141 |
|
Foxcatcher |
Sony Classics |
$530,597 |
- 41% |
$8,739,977 |
|
Big Hero 6 |
Disney |
$2,243,000 |
- 53% |
$214,459,000 |
|
The Theory of Everything |
Focus Features |
$675,000 |
- 39% |
$25,896,000 |
|
Birdman |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$590,000 |
- 31% |
$26,337,000 |
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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