Weekend Wrap-Up
Box Office Lacks Focus; Low Point for 2015
By John Hamann
March 1, 2015
McFarland, USA drops to sixth place debuting in fourth last weekend. McFarland, USA earned another $7.8 million this weekend, dropping a terrific 29%. This one was made for $17 million, and while it has beat its budget with a gross so far of $22 million, it still has work to do to earn those marketing costs back, as this one is not going to play away from home.
Seventh is American Sniper, which won only a sound editing Oscar despite having eight nominations and more box office earnings than the rest of the field combined. This weekend, Sniper earned another $7.7 million and fell 23% despite losing 300+ screens. The $60 million film has now rung up $331.1 million stateside, and has another $100 million plus from overseas audiences.
The DUFF is eighth this weekend. With a sophomore score of $7.2 million and a decline of 34%, it's holding up decently. Since The DUFF cost only $8.5 million to make, it will finish quite well domestically. Its current total is $20 million and although overseas revenue will be tough to come by, it's going to bring in great home video revenue.
Still Alice moves up to ninth, as Sony Classics adds another batch of screens to this little scrapper. After a Best Actress Oscar and a widening of release, Still Alice racked up $2.7 million, up 24% compared to last weekend. Made for $5 million, Sony Classics has turned this one into a real winner, as it has a gross to date of $12 million and given the subject matter, it can literally play anywhere.
Tenth is Hot Tub Time Machine 2, last weekend’s car accident. This attempt at comedy earned $2.4 million, which gives it a drop of 60% versus last weekend’s opening take of $6 million. Made for $14 million, this Paramount loser has a gross to date of $10.3 million.
For Oscar oriented films, the big winner - Birdman – despite being out on home video – still managed to earn $2 million, up 125% compared to last weekend. The Imitation Game, which only won one Oscar, went the other way, dropping 24% and earning only $1.9 million. Both films are box office winners, as Birdman cost $18 million to make and has a worldwide gross approaching $80 million, and The Imitation Game has earned $180 million worldwide against a $14 million budget.
Overall this weekend, the box office takes a bit of a dip, but leaves things wide open for some big releases coming over the next two weekends. With Focus on top, the top 12 films earned only $93.4 million, which doesn’t compare well with last year’s top 12 haul of $107.5 million, when Non-Stop was on top. Next weekend, three potentially big films debut. Chappie, from Neil Blomkamp and starring Hugh Jackman opens, as does The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (one of my favorite sequel titles ever), as well as Unfinished Business with Vince Vaughn, a title where I have actually laughed at the trailer. The following weekend brings a live action Cinderella to the ball, along with Liam Neeson in Run All Night.
| 1 |
Focus |
Paramount Classics |
$19,100,000 |
New |
$19,100,000 |
| 2 |
Kingsman: the Secret Service |
Fox |
$11,750,000 |
- 36% |
$85,695,700 |
| 3 |
The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water |
Paramount |
$11,200,000 |
- 32% |
$140,322,000 |
| 4 |
Fifty Shades of Grey |
Universal |
$10,927,090 |
- 51% |
$147,763,680 |
| 5 |
The Lazarus Effect |
Lionsgate |
$10,600,000 |
New |
$10,600,000 |
| 6 |
Mcfarland, Usa |
Disney |
$7,797,000 |
- 29% |
$21,981,000 |
| 7 |
American Sniper |
WARNER BROS. |
$7,700,000 |
- 23% |
$331,108,000 |
| 8 |
The Duff |
Lionsgate |
$7,150,000 |
- 34% |
$20,052,975 |
| 9 |
Still Alice |
Sony Classics |
$2,694,757 |
+ 24% |
$11,983,799 |
| 10 |
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 |
Paramount |
$2,400,000 |
- 60% |
$10,268,000 |
| 11 |
Jupiter Ascending |
WARNER BROS. |
$2,100,000 |
- 45% |
$43,111,000 |
| 12 |
Birdman |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$1,975,000 |
+ 125% |
$40,279,200 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
A La Mala |
Lionsgate |
$1,440,000 |
New |
$1,440,000 |
| |
Maps to the Stars |
|
$139,000 |
New |
$139,000 |
| |
'71 |
Roadside Attractions |
$55,000 |
New |
$55,000 |
| |
Deli Man |
Cohen Media |
$35,868 |
New |
$35,868 |
| |
Wild Tales |
Sony Classics |
$108,980 |
+ 32% |
$364,459 |
| |
What We Do In the Shadows |
Paladin/unison |
$262,890 |
+ 105% |
$536,505 |
| |
Paddington |
Weinstein Co. |
$1,778,000 |
- 27% |
$7,011,619 |
| |
The Imitation Game |
Weinstein Co. |
$1,927,000 |
- 24% |
$86,829,345 |
| |
The Theory of Everything |
Focus Features |
$649,000 |
+ 17% |
$35,049,528 |
| |
Whiplash |
Sony Classics |
$677,249 |
+ 19% |
$12,264,551 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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