Weekend Wrap-Up
By Tim Briody
October 11, 2015
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials places sixth in its fourth weekend with another $5.2 million and $70.6 million to date. It’s going to top out with about $85 million, disappointing considering The Maze Runner was a $102 million hit a year ago, but I still say the filmmakers and Lionsgate are to be commended for not splitting the third book into two movies.
After an IMAX and premium theater release last weekend, The Walk moves to a wide release and is met with a shrug as it earns just $3.6 million on the weekend, giving it a cumulative $6.3 million so far. A biopic that was basically released as the documentary Man on Wire in 2008 (which won the Best Documentary Oscar), it's even less successful in making the jump from IMAX to multiplexes than Everest was a few weeks ago. Despite solid reviews, it just couldn't connect with viewers, perhaps because the ads absolutely terrified some people. It's a rare misfire for lead Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who while not a box office superstar, generally makes solid choices in the roles he picks.
Johnny Depp’s Black Mass takes eighth with $3.1 million and $57.5 million after four weekends in theaters. It remains to be seen whether or not Depp will earn a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of Whitey Bulger, as critics generally liked his performance but were middling on the movie itself. It's headed towards a final total of just under $70 million.
Everest is another recent under-performer, as it adds another $3 million to its total of $38.2 million after four weekends of box office, three of which have been in wide release. After a promising start in IMAX and premium theaters, the success did not carry over to general theaters. Domestically, it's going to fall short of its production budget of $55 million, but it looks like overseas box office will carry the day yet again.
M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit lands in 10th, adding $2.4 million in its fifth weekend, giving it $61 million to date. It's basically been all gravy for the Universal (who else?) movie since the second day of release, as this one only cost $5 million. After a couple of laughable disasters that probably cost him a lot of creative control and budgetary costs, he's earned a bit of that back thanks to the reception on this one.
Finally, outside of the top 10, Steve Jobs, the biopic directed by Danny Boyle, written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Michael Fassbender as the Apple visionary, opened in just four theaters and took in a remarkable $521,000 for one of the best per screen averages ever. Steve Jobs does not go wide for two more weekends, so we'll have to watch next weekend to see if it expands beyond NY/LA and how well its per screen holds up then.
|
Top Ten for Weekend of October 9-11, 2015
|
Rank |
Film |
Distributor |
Estimated
Gross ($M) |
Weekly
Change |
Total Gross ($M) |
|
1
|
The Martian
|
20th Century Fox
|
37.0
|
-32%
|
108.7
|
|
2
|
Hotel Transylvania 2
|
Sony
|
20.3
|
-39%
|
116.8
|
|
3
|
Pan
|
Warner Bros.
|
15.5
|
New
|
15.5
|
|
4
|
The Intern
|
Warner Bros.
|
8.6
|
-26%
|
49.5
|
|
5
|
Sicario
|
Lionsgate
|
7.3
|
-39%
|
26.7
|
|
6
|
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
|
20th Century Fox
|
5.3
|
-33%
|
70.6
|
|
7
|
The Walk
|
Sony
|
3.6
|
+134%
|
6.3
|
|
8
|
Black Mass
|
Warner Bros.
|
3.1
|
-46%
|
57.5
|
|
9
|
Everest
|
Universal
|
3.0
|
-46%
|
38.2
|
|
10
|
The Visit
|
Universal
|
2.4
|
-39%
|
61.0
|
Continued:
1
2
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