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The Boy Next Door was front-loaded on Friday, but did earn a weekend multiplier of 2.6, giving it a weekend take of $15 million, or just short of four times its production budget. For Jennifer Lopez, this is her best opening since Monster In-Law, which debuted to $23.1 million in May 2005. Lopez has struggled finding successful films since that, but her movie career may see a boost from the fact that she opened a film to double digits. The Boy Next Door is 13% fresh at RottenTomatoes (which, believe it or not, is the top score amongst openers). It earned a B- Cinemascore and will fall into the discount bin at Target shortly. However, for the king of the low-budget release, Jason Blum, this is another win on his resume.

Third goes to Paddington, released in the US by the Weinstein/Dimension combo. Paddington did okay this weekend, keeping in mind that we are coming off of a long weekend where Sundays are inflated, because there is no school for most on the Monday. After debuting to $19 million last weekend, Paddington held decently considering, earning $12.4 million and dropping 35%. As we discussed last weekend, the North American release for the British kids flick is almost unnecessary, as it has earned $130 million overseas (including $52 million from the UK alone), all against a $55 million budget. Add $40.1 million from North America so far, and Studio Canal has a decent sized hit on its hands - and a potential franchise. Now that it has pushed Strange Magic to the side, it has a weekend free to itself before SpongeBob Square Pants arrives on February 6th.

The Wedding Ringer drops to fourth and sees a deeper drop than that of Paddington. The Kevin Hart starrer earned another $11.6 million as it fell 44%. Made for a slim $23 million, The Wedding Ringer will do okay domestically. It is almost assured to cross the $50 million mark stateside. Currently, the Screen Gems release has pulled in $40 million. Next up for Hart is the March release Get Hard, co-starring Will Ferrell.

Landing in fifth is Taken 3, which has virtually imploded after its unexpected $39.2 million opening. Last weekend, the Liam Neeson starrer fell 63% to $14.7 million, and things don’t get any better this weekend. In its third frame, Taken 3 earned only $7.6 million and had another wild drop of 48%. Normally, when a film opens close to $40 million, a $100 million plus finish is virtually guaranteed, but not with Taken 3. The $48 million Fox/Europa release looks like it will top out with about $90 million, but away from North America, the thriller has already eclipsed the $100 million mark.

The Imitation Game is sixth for the third straight weekend, as word-of-mouth, Oscar nominations and additional theaters have kept this one thriving. This weekend, the Benedict Cumberbatch starrer earned another $7.1 million, increasing 5% compared to last weekend. The Weinstein Company flick has brought its domestic total up to $60.6 million, and the overseas take has now eclipsed the $50 million mark as well.

Seventh is Strange Magic, the weird movie from LucasFilm, written and produced by George Lucas himself. Strange Magic is an out and out flop, recording a weekend gross of only $5.5 million. It shouldn’t be too much a surprise, as it was only 11% fresh, and earned a B- Cinemascore. Budget data was not released, but a number around $50 million has to be expected. This one will be lucky to make $10 million, and will be forgotten quickly.

Selma is eighth this weekend, as being in the post MLK frame is like standing in a shadow. Selma took in $5.5 million this weekend, off 37% from last weekend, where it earned $8.8 million over three days and a remarkable $13.9 million over four. The $20 million release distributed by Paramount has now brought its total up to $39.2 million.

Ninth is Mortdecai, another new release flop. With a cast that includes Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany and Olivia Munn, this eccentric comedy should have been able to open to $10 million, but failed to do that despite a strong marketing campaign. Instead, it earned just $4.1 million from its 2,648 venues.

Why? Mortdecai is 12% fresh at RottenTomatoes and earned a C+ Cinemascore – about the lowest score a comedy can earn. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that Mortdecai was going to flop this weekend. Whoever thought a farce should have a $60 million budget should be banned from greenlighting films, as I highly doubt that overseas audiences are going to bail this one out.

Tenth goes to Into the Woods, which is now in its fifth weekend. The musical earned another $3.9 million this weekend and fell 43%. The $50 million Disney release has now pulled in $121.5 million stateside and has picked up another $26 million from overseas theaters.

Jennifer Aniston’s Cake didn’t have much impact on the box office this weekend. The small film opened in 492 venues, and without an Oscar nomination for Aniston, earned only $1 million.

Overall, thanks almost entirely to American Sniper, the box office has its third "up weekend" versus last year already. This weekend, the top 12 films in release earned $142 million, which compares positively last year when the top 12 films earned $97.9 million as I, Frankenstein flopped. Next weekend, openers include Project Almanac from producer Michael Bay, Kevin Costner’s Black or White, and Open Road's The Loft. It is almost a no-brainer that American Sniper will be number one again.

Top Ten for Weekend of January 23-25, 2015
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	American Sniper	Warner Bros.	64,365,000	-28%	200,137,000
2	The Boy Next Door	Universal	15,001,000	New	15,001,000
3	Paddington	The Weinstein Co.	12,391,000	-35%	40,062,000
4	The Wedding Ringer	Screen Gems	11,600,000	-44%	39,677,000
5	Taken 3	20th Century Fox	7,600,000	-48%	76,051,000
6	The Imitation Game	The Weinstein Co.	7,136,000	+5%	60,642,000
7	Strange Magic	Walt Disney	5,534,000	New	5,534,000
8	Selma	Paramount Pictures	5,500,000	-37%	39,200,000
9	Mortdecai	Lionsgate	4,125,000	New	4,125,000
10	Into the Woods	Walt Disney	3,886,000	-43%	121,494,000
11	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Warner Bros.	2,805,000	-43%	249,576,000
12	Unbroken	Universal	2,056,000	-51%	112,421,000
	Birdman	Fox Searchlight	1,915,000	+24%	30,913,000
	The Theory of Everything	Focus Features	1,300,000	+34%	29,093,000
	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1	Lionsgate	1,045,000	-44%	334,330,000
	Cake	Cinelou Films	1,003,000	New	1,003,000
	Wild	Fox Searchlight	946,000	-35%	34,709,000
	Whiplash	Sony Pictures Classics	787,000	+114%	7,600,000
	Big Hero 6	Walt Disney	676,000	-37%	217,448,000
	Foxcatcher	Sony Pictures Classics	581,000	-41%	10,985,000
	A Most Violent Year	A24	456,000	+61%	1,354,000
	Still Alice	Sony Pictures Classics	411,000	+109%	715,000
	Inherent Vice	Warner Bros	400,000	-65%	7,419,000
	Interstellar	Paramount	340,000	-38%	186,355,000
	Big Eyes	The Weinstein Co.	228,000	-57%	14,006,000
	Boyhood	IFC	197,000	-19%	24,919,000
	Mr. Turner	Sony Pictures Classics	162,000	-10%	1,851,000
	Two Days, One Night	IFC	114,000	-3%	424,000
	Nightcrawler	Open Road Films	78,900	+74%	32,281,000
	Leviathan	Sony Pictures Classics	72,400	+91%	272,100
	Black Sea	Focus Features	35,000	New	35,000
	Citizenfour	Radius-TWC	28,100	-37%	2,472,000
	Song One	The Film Arcade	23,800	New	23,800
	Mommy	Roadside Attractions	21,000	New	21,000
	Red Army	Sony Pictures Classics	20,100	New	20,100
	The Duke of Burgundy	IFC	13,000	New	13,000

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