Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
January 31, 2014
American Sniper
Taking in another $10 million on Friday, American Sniper continues its historic run, down just 45% since last Friday and now stands at $227.1 million. The most interesting aspect this weekend will be how much it earns on Sunday, when it goes up against the Super Bowl. Historically an anti-holiday at the box office, American Sniper has brought out a lot of “special occasion” moviegoers, so I wonder if there will be enough to counteract that effect or if the big game will win out anyway. I’m expecting the latter to happen but that still gives Clint Eastwood’s film a weekend of $30.1 million as the march towards $300 million continues.
Project Almanac
The teen time-travel film earns $3.2 million on Friday. After a year and a half in the can, Project Almanac was looking to copy the success of Chronicle from a few years ago, but does not match that at all. With bad reviews (but it’s the best reviewed new release this weekend!) and considered utterly forgettable, it will suffer the same fate that awaits just about every film released on Super Bowl weekend. Look for a weekend of $7.6 million.
Black or White
The race drama starring Kevin Costner get a collective shrug from viewers with just $2.3 million on Friday. The saving grace here is its reported budget is just $9 million, and it should (should!) make more than that in its theatrical run. It’s a weekend total of $5.2 million, though.
The Loft
It’s junk drawer weekend: everything must go! Filmed in 2011(!), and presently sitting at 0% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, The Loft has a marginally impressive cast but is thrown out there in just 1,800 theaters with minimal fanfare and earned $1.2 million. Don’t feel bad for admitting you’ve never heard of it when you come across it on Netflix in a couple months. Let’s call it good with a weekend of $3 million.
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Projected Estimates for the Top Ten (Three-Day)
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Projected
Rank |
Film |
Estimated Gross |
|
1
|
American Sniper
|
30.1
|
|
2
|
Project Almanac
|
7.6
|
|
3
|
Paddington
|
7.4
|
|
4
|
Black or White
|
5.2
|
|
5
|
The Boy Next Door
|
5.2
|
|
6
|
The Wedding Ringer
|
5.1
|
|
7
|
The Imitation Game
|
4.1
|
|
8
|
Taken 3
|
3.1
|
|
9
|
The Loft
|
2.9
|
|
10
|
Selma
|
2.3
|
|
|
|
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