Weekend Wrap-Up
Box Office Implodes Despite Four New Titles (and Steve Jobs)
By John Hamann
October 25, 2015
Steve Jobs, the odds on favorite to win the weekend, crashed and burned – at least compared to its massive limited releases over the last two weekends. Expected to earn $19 million, the Michael Fassbender pic failed to pick up half of that, coming in at $7.3 million instead (we aren’t ALL in love with Apple). Believe it or not, Steve Jobs is from Universal, and this film unexpectedly breaks an impressive streak of hits for the studio. The good news is that it was cheap to make, costing only $30 million to bring to the screen. So far it has earned $10 million.
Universal picked the wrong weekend to take Steve Jobs wide, as there was too much competition, not to mention the fact that the box office faces a black hole next weekend, when Halloween lands on Saturday. November 13th would have been a better choice, as the challengers would have been The 33, Love the Coopers, and My All American. Yes, the second weekend of Spectre would be looming, but a reasonable platform release would have made more sense. The pressure is on now for a hold next weekend, and it will have to do it with one arm tied behind its back.
Crimson Peak, last weekend’s disappointment, was another film that got hammered this weekend. The goth-horror flick earned only $5.6 million, dropping 58% compared to the previous frame. The $55 million Universal release (the shine has definitely come off the studio) has now earned $22.5 million and is in trouble financially. It opened in a ton of foreign markets last weekend, and had the same result it did domestically.
The Intern holds on to ninth due to two of the openers bottoming out completely. The Nancy Myers film earned another $3.9 million and fell 29%. The $40 million film has now earned $64.7 million domestically and another $77 million overseas.
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We round out the top 10 with Sicario, as it's able to sneak ahead of the new openers and last weekend's faith-based release Woodlawn to nab that final spot. The critically acclaimed action thriller earned $2.6 million and has now increased its domestic tally to $39.4 million. There's a chance it will get renewed life if it receives awards attention, but it has probably come to the end of the line otherwise.
Finishing outside the top ten are both Rock the Kasbah and Jem and the Holograms. Kasbah earned only $1.5 million from 2,012 screens for Open Road and had a putrid venue average of $750. It cost $15 million to make and won’t come close to earning that amount. In the same boat is Jem and the Holograms, which thankfully only cost $5 million, as it earned a pitiful $1.3 million. Its average was even worse at $547. This is historical badness, as we have two films this weekend joining the list of worst openers of all time for films debuting on more than 2,000 screens. All of a sudden mega-flops like From Justin to Kelly ($2.7 million debut) and Pluto Nash ($2.2 million) look pretty good, though I guess at least they beat Ooglieloves and Delgo.
Overall, the box office officially hits the skids this weekend, putting an end to a good run through October. The top 12 earned $95.5 million, behind last year’s top 12 total when Ouija and John Wick opened with $103.2 million. Next weekend, despite the Halloween situation, we have three openers. Scouts Guide to the Apocalypse, Burnt, and Our Brand is Crisis all hit screens next weekend, as it appears these titles (and the majority of this weekend’s titles) are simply getting dumped.
|
Top Ten for Weekend of October 23-25, 2015
|
Rank |
Film |
Distributor |
Estimated Gross (in millions) |
Weekly Change |
Running Total (in millions) |
|
1
|
The Martian
|
20th Century Fox
|
15.9
|
-25%
|
166.4
|
|
2
|
Goosebumps
|
Sony Pictures
|
15.5
|
-34%
|
43.7
|
|
3
|
Bridge of Spies
|
Walt Disney
|
11.4
|
-26%
|
32.6
|
|
4
|
The Last Witch Hunter
|
Lionsgate
|
10.8
|
New
|
10.8
|
|
5
|
Hotel Transylvania 2
|
Sony Pictures
|
9.0
|
-29%
|
148.3
|
|
6
|
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
|
Paramount
|
8.2
|
New
|
8.2
|
|
7
|
Steve Jobs
|
Universal
|
7.3
|
+381%
|
10.0
|
|
8
|
Crimson Peak
|
Universal
|
5.6
|
-58%
|
22.5
|
|
9
|
The Intern
|
Warner Bros.
|
3.9
|
-29%
|
64.7
|
|
10
|
Sicario
|
Lionsgate
|
2.9
|
-35%
|
39.4
|
|
11
|
Woodlawn
|
Pure Flix Entertainment
|
2.6
|
-36%
|
7.9
|
|
12
|
Pan
|
Warner Bros.
|
2.5
|
-57%
|
29.8
|
|
13
|
Rock the Kasbah
|
Open Road
|
1.5
|
New
|
1.5
|
|
14
|
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
|
20th Century Fox
|
1.4
|
-50%
|
77.7
|
|
15
|
Jem and the Holograms
|
Universal
|
1.3
|
New
|
1.3
|
Continued:
1
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