Friday Box Office Analysis
By Tim Briody
January 30, 2016
It's another January weekend at the box office, which means the news isn't that great for most movies.
Kung Fu Panda 3
It’s a start of $10.5 million for Kung Fu Panda 3, the latest from DreamWorks Animation. While down from the previous films, it’s not too bad, and breaking $10 million on Friday shows that kids and families haven’t completely forgotten about the franchise in the five years since Kung Fu Panda 2. That was a Memorial Day weekend opener in 2011 and had a first Friday of $13.1 million on its way to a $47.6 million weekend (and then a Monday that duplicated Friday). Kung Fu Panda 3 does not have that same luxury, but there’s little reason to think it won’t perform pretty well over the rest of the weekend. Look for a weekend of $36.7 million.
The Finest Hours
With only $3.3 million on Friday, it’s a disappointing weekend out there for all the openers not named Kung Fu Panda 3 (though the argument can certainly be made there). “Ooooh, weather!” just doesn’t sell tickets like it used to, especially when there aren’t any big names attached. Give it a total of $9.2 million for the weekend.
Fifty Shades of Black
Marlon Wayans’ Fifty Shades of Grey parody could only earn $2.2 million on Friday. That throws under A Haunted House 2 from two years ago, which started with $4 million on Friday (earning $8.8 million on the weekend and finishing with $7.3 million total). This will come and go just as quickly, so look for Fifty Shades of Black to manage just under $6 million on the weekend.
Projected Estimates for the Top Ten (Three-Day)
|
Projected Rank |
Film |
Estimated Gross |
1
|
Kung Fu Panda 3
|
36.7
|
2
|
The Revenant
|
11.1
|
3
|
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
|
9.7
|
4
|
The Finest Hours
|
9.2
|
5
|
RIde Along 2
|
7.8
|
6
|
The Boy
|
6.7
|
7
|
Dirty Grandpa
|
6.2
|
8
|
Fifty Shades of Black
|
5.9
|
9
|
The 5th Wave
|
5.6
|
10
|
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
|
5.4
|
|
|
|
|