Weekend Wrap-Up

Taken 3 and Selma Strong; Holdovers Not

By John Hamann

January 11, 2015

Between Lost and Taken, that girl has had a rough time.

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Third spot goes to Into the Woods, as the now three-weekend-old Disney release begins to struggle after two weekends of Christmas bonuses. This weekend, Into the Woods (and the rest of the middle-tier films) came back to earth, as it earned $9.8 million, off 48% compared to the $18.7 million it earned last weekend. Still, it earned what it needed to over the holidays, and has a gross so far of $105.3 million. It crossed the $100 million mark on Saturday, its 17th day of release. Into the Woods cost a relatively cheap $50 million to make.

That puts The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies down to fourth place after repeating at number one over the last three weekends. Last weekend, Five Armies earned $21.7 million, but the shine has come off, and its audience appears to be, well, Taken. This weekend The Hobbit clincher earned $9.4 million, off a hurtful 57% compared to last weekend. The domestic tally for the Peter Jackson film has now reached $236.5 million stateside. It has also earned over a half-billion overseas.

Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken is fifth and like Into the Woods, drops back somewhat. Unbroken earned $8.4 million, off 54% compared to the $18.2 million it earned last weekend. Unbroken hit the $100 million mark on Sunday, its 18th day of release, and now has a total of $101.6 million.

Sixth goes to The Imitation Game, which holds extremely well thanks to an 812 theater expansion. A weekend ago, the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer earned $7.8 million. This weekend, The Imitation Game pulled in $7.6 million, down just 2%. Made for $14 million, this Weinstein release has now earned $40.8 million stateside and about $30 million from international venues. A couple of wins at the Globes tonight and a bucketful of Oscar nominations could make this one an even bigger hit.

Seventh is Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, now in its fourth weekend. After earning $14.5 million last weekend, the Ben Stiller flick got turned on its ear today, as it earned only $6.7 million, and fell a hurtful 54%. The $127 million feature has now picked up $99.5 million domestically and has crossed the $100 million mark overseas.

Eighth is Annie, which also plunges this weekend (thankfully). The musical earned only $4.9 million and declined 56%. Hopefully that’s the end of that one, as we have three new releases next weekend and American Sniper expands, hopefully taking out Annie. Give the Sony film a gross so far of $79.4 million versus a $65 million budget.




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The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death falls from a fourth place finish last weekend all the way down to ninth this weekend. It earned only $4.8 million and fell a troubling 68%. This was a $1 million pick up for Relativity, but they had to pay for the marketing in North America, which likely means the $22.3 million gross so far isn’t enough.

Tenth is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, as the funds wind down for this one as well. In play now for a full two months, Katniss and company earned another $3.8 million, off 50% compared to the previous frame. The holidays made a big difference for this one, as it earned around $40 million from after weekend five to today. The domestic total has now reached $329.5 million, and it should pass Guardians of the Galaxy sometime next weekend or just after to become the top North American release of 2014. The overseas amount has surpassed $370 million, and Mockingjay still has a release date in China to come in February.

Inherent Vice expanded its run to 645 screens this weekend, but audiences did not turn out. The Joaquin Phoenix starrer earned $2.9 million from those screens, giving it an average of $4,496. Made for $20 million, it has a long way to go to find a profit, but could become a cult favorite on VOD. So far, it has earned $4.5 million.

Overall, the box office is down from last year, but still in okay shape. A year ago, Lone Survivor expanded and took in a surprise $37.8 million, leading the top 12 to a total of $122.2 million. This year, the opener matched Lone Survivor, but the holdovers didn’t stand up, and the top 12 earned $112.6 million.

The third weekend of 2015 packs even more punch that this weekend did, as we have a trio of openers that should be strong, and an expanding film that could be this year’s Lone Survivor. New films include the very well-reviewed Paddington, a film that has already earned more than $100 million away from home; The Wedding Ringer, with Kevin Hart looking to replicate his Ride Along success from last year; and Blackhat, the Michael Mann thriller that stars Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth. Expanding is Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper with Bradley Cooper, which has earned almost $3 million, despite being out to only 4 screens.


Top Weekend Box Office for 1/9/15-1/11/15 (Estimates)
Rank Film Distributor Estimated Gross Weekly Change Running Total
1 Taken 3 Fox $40,400,000 New $40,400,000
2 Selma Paramount $11,200,000 + 1669% $13,487,000
3 Into the Woods Disney $9,750,000 - 48% $105,272,000
4 The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies WARNER BROS. $9,435,000 - 57% $236,517,000
5 Unbroken Universal $8,368,035 - 54% $101,602,305
6 The Imitation Game Weinstein Co. $7,624,000 - 2% $40,840,439
7 Night At the Museum: Secret of the Tomb Fox $6,700,000 - 54% $99,523,000
8 Annie Sony $4,919,000 - 56% $79,437,000
9 The Woman In Black 2 Relativity $4,825,000 - 68% $22,334,105
10 Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1 Lionsgate $3,750,000 - 50% $329,524,553
11 Inherent Vice WARNER BROS. $2,900,000 + 1054% $4,480,000
12 Wild FOX SEARCHLIGHT $2,700,000 - 41% $30,338,000
  Also Opening/Notables
  A Most Violent Year A24 $120,516 - 36% $457,473
  The Gambler Paramount $2,350,000 - 63% $32,307,000
  Big Eyes $1,300,000 - 50% $12,261,682
  The Interview Sony $400,000 - 63% $5,750,000
  American Sniper WARNER BROS. $555,000 - 18% $3,150,000
  Leviathan Sony Classics $27,241 - 12% $120,760
  Mr. Turner Sony Classics $242,177 + 5% $1,290,141
  Foxcatcher Sony Classics $530,597 - 41% $8,739,977
  Big Hero 6 Disney $2,243,000 - 53% $214,459,000
  The Theory of Everything Focus Features $675,000 - 39% $25,896,000
  Birdman FOX SEARCHLIGHT $590,000 - 31% $26,337,000
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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