Weekend Wrap-Up
Catching Fire Keeps Hunger Games Franchise Hot
By John Hamann
November 24, 2013
Third is The Best Man Holiday, last weekend’s surprise hit. This one is not immune from Catching Fire, either, as The Best Man Holiday took in only $12.5 million and fell 58%. Think Like a Man had the benefit of going up against four films that did nothing over opening weekend, and dropped 48%. Let’s not forget that this is a $17 million dollar film that has a gross so far of $50.4 million.
Fourth is Delivery Man, which crashed and burned. The seemingly likable Vince Vaughn release tanked, grossing only $8.2 million from 3,036 venues. Given the number of locations, one would think that Disney had a serious intention to try and counter-program against Catching Fire, but the move failed. The good news is that Delivery Man cost DreamWorks only $26 million to make, so if it can get to $20 million, it might eke out a profit overseas.
Fifth is Free Birds, as the animated Relativity release continues to tread water as Thanksgiving approaches. After an $8.1 million weekend in the last frame, the turkey got cooked again this weekend, as Free Birds earned only $5.3 million. That’s a drop of 35%, but it brings the domestic total up to $49 million. Free Birds cost $55 million to make, so it’s going to need a strong Thanksgiving weekend.
Sixth is Last Vegas, as the old guys also feel the heat from Catching Fire. In its fourth weekend, Last Vegas earned $4.4 million and fell 48%. I have a feeling a movie like this will do quite well over Thanksgiving weekend, which will help the CBS earner double its $28 million budget by the end of next weekend. It will also become CBS Films' highest grossing movie ever by the middle of this week, beating The Woman in Black's $54.3 million. Give Last Vegas $53.9 million so far.
That puts Bad Grandpa down to seventh, as it loses 565 venues compared to last weekend. After pulling in $7.4 million last weekend, Bad Grandpa drops 54% (and breaks a hip), earning $3.4 million. This one cost $15 million to make, and still has a shot at $100 million. So far, Johnny Knoxville and friends have minted $95.5 million.
Eighth is Gravity, as the Sandra Bullock starrer lasts longer than Ender’s Game, despite costing $10 million less than the $110 million YA adaption. Now in its eighth amazing weekend, Gravity earned another $3.3 million and declined 46%. Gravity has now grossed $245.5 million stateside, and has reached almost $300 million in overseas business.
Ninth is 12 Years A Slave, as even the main Oscar contender can’t stand up to Jennifer Lawrence. 12 Years earned $2.8 million, off 39 % from last weekend, and it added 63 venues this weekend. So far, the Fox Searchlight release has taken in $29.4 million.
Dallas Buyers Club, another Oscar contender featuring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, increased its venue count from 184 last weekend to 666 this weekend, and as a result managed to grab a spot in the top ten. The rapturously reviewed Focus Features film earned $2.8 million, up 58% from the previous frame. Its domestic total so far is $6.4 million.
In ultra-limited release, Disney’s Frozen played in one theater this weekend, the El Capitain, and managed to pull in $237,600 from one screen. Frozen goes wide next weekend, and should be a force to be reckoned with.
Comparisons to last year are a little more difficult this weekend, as a year ago, this weekend was Thanksgiving. Over the three-day portion of turkey weekend last year, the box office amassed $200.5 million from the top 12. This year, with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire doing the heavy lifting, the top 12 easily beats that previous number, taking in $221.8 million. Considering it was battling against Thanksgiving weekend based on calendar configuration, this is a pretty amazing triumph. Next weekend brings the animated Frozen, the Jason Statham/James Franco actioner Homefront, and Black Nativity, the film based on the popular play. With these three movies and weekend two of Catching Fire, it should be another busy weekend.
| 1 |
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire |
Lionsgate |
$161,125,000 |
New |
$161,125,000 |
| 2 |
Thor: the Dark World |
DISNEY |
$14,117,000 |
- 61% |
$167,837,000 |
| 3 |
The Best Man Holiday |
UNIVERSAL |
$12,521,535 |
- 58% |
$50,391,125 |
| 4 |
The Delivery Man |
DISNEY |
$8,215,000 |
New |
$8,215,000 |
| 5 |
Free Birds |
Relativity |
$5,300,000 |
- 35% |
$48,593,865 |
| 6 |
Last Vegas |
Cbs Films |
$4,400,000 |
- 48% |
$53,925,749 |
| 7 |
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa |
PARAMOUNT |
$3,450,000 |
- 54% |
$95,451,000 |
| 8 |
Gravity |
WARNER BROS. |
$3,305,000 |
- 46% |
$245,503,000 |
| 9 |
12 Years a Slave |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$2,800,000 |
- 39% |
$29,393,300 |
| 10 |
Dallas Buyers Club |
Focus Features |
$2,769,989 |
+ 58% |
$6,449,603 |
| 11 |
Ender's Game |
Warner Bros. |
$2,000,000 |
- 67% |
$57,250,000 |
| 12 |
Captain Phillips |
SONY |
$1,825,000 |
- 58% |
$100,700,000 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Frozen |
DISNEY |
$0 |
New |
$0 |
| |
Narco Cultura |
Cinedigm |
$7,713 |
New |
$7,713 |
| |
Ram Leela |
Eros |
$500,000 |
- 67% |
$2,300,000 |
| |
Nebraska |
PARAMOUNT |
$350,000 |
+ 149% |
$540,000 |
| |
The Christmas Candle |
Echolight Studios |
$980,456 |
+ 1328% |
$1,060,000 |
| |
The Great Beauty |
Janus Films |
$54,755 |
+ 134% |
$93,454 |
| |
The Book Thief |
Twentieth Century Fox |
$605,000 |
+ 44% |
$1,302,900 |
| |
About Time |
UNIVERSAL |
$1,224,990 |
- 63% |
$13,798,048 |
| |
Blue Is the Warmest Color |
IFC Films |
$200,000 |
- 24% |
$1,460,000 |
| |
All Is Lost |
Roadside Attractions |
$350,000 |
- 62% |
$4,950,000 |
| |
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 |
SONY |
$835,000 |
- 58% |
$114,200,000 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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