Weekend Wrap-Up
Chappie Short Circuits, Unfinished Business Implodes
By John Hamann
March 8, 2015
Fifth is The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, one of the films that has been propping up overall box office results in the first quarter. SpongeBob picked up another $7 million this weekend, dropping 35% in the process. Since opening to $55 million four weekends ago, the Nickelodeon character has been able to ring up $149 million at the domestic box office and another $100 million from overseas theaters. Paramount is reaping the benefits, as this one cost only $74 million to make.
Fifty Shades of Grey, another film propping up the overall box office, finishes sixth this weekend. As significant as the $85 million opening was, the weekend-to-weekend declines since then have been just as noteworthy. Fifty Shades lost 74% in the weekend following its debut and another 54% last weekend. This weekend, the Universal release earned $5.6 million and fell 47%. So far, the $40 million release has picked up $156.4 million stateside and over $370 million from overseas venues, which means it has surpassed the half-billion mark worldwide.
Seventh goes to McFarland, USA, as it holds nicely again this weekend. The Kevin Costner starrer earned another $5.3 million this weekend, dropping a reasonable 32% compared to last weekend, when it fell only 29%. Made for only $17 million, the Disney release has now picked up $29.4 million stateside, and could still see $50 million before its long distance run is over.
Eighth is The Lazarus Effect, last weekend’s new horror title. After opening to $10.2 million last weekend, the writing was on the wall for a big plunge this weekend. Thanks to some poor openers, the Olivia Wilde/Mark Duplass starrer actually holds better than expected, earning $5.1 million and falling 50%. The $3.3 million film has now earned $17.4 million.
Ninth is The Duff, the teen dramedy from CBS Films and Lionsgate. In its third frame, The Duff earned another $4.9 million, giving it a small drop compared to last weekend of 29%. Like McFarland, USA, The Duff has a small budget at $8.5 million, legs, and a decent total so far of $26.1 million.
Tenth is Unfinished Business, Vince Vaughn’s latest disaster, as this is his fifth consecutive miss. Unfinished Business earned only $4.8 million this weekend, the lowest opening for a Vince Vaughn film debuting on more than 1,000 screens. With only a 13% fresh rating and a B- Cinemascore, this is a disaster, as it carries a $35 million production budget. Following Delivery Man, The Internship, The Watch and The Dilemma, Vaughn is going to need something quick (True Detective) to revive a flagging career.
Finishing outside the top ten for the first time in seven weekends is American Sniper. The Bradley Cooper starrer earned another $4.5 million this weekend, falling 39%. The domestic total for Sniper has now reached $337.2 million, meaning that it has passed The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1’s $336.8 million to become the top grossing film released in 2014.
Overall, things are not great at the overall box office. After a strong start to 2015, things have lagged since Fifty Shades opened. Compared to last year, totals really take it on the chin this weekend. A year ago, 300: Rise of an Empire and Mr. Peabody and Sherman combined for $77 million, leading the top 12 to $131.2 million. This weekend, the top 12 was way off that amount, amassing only $79.4 million. Next weekend brings real hope, as the very well-reviewed Cinderella opens on more than 3,600 screens for Disney and is joined by Run All Night, another Liam Neeson action movie.
| 1 |
Chappie |
Sony |
$13,300,000 |
New |
$13,300,000 |
| 2 |
Focus |
Paramount Classics |
$10,020,000 |
- 46% |
$34,573,000 |
| 3 |
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel |
FOX SEARCHLIGHT |
$8,600,000 |
New |
$8,600,000 |
| 4 |
Kingsman: the Secret Service |
Fox |
$8,300,000 |
- 30% |
$98,027,000 |
| 5 |
The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water |
Paramount |
$7,000,000 |
- 35% |
$148,993,000 |
| 6 |
Fifty Shades of Grey |
Universal |
$5,603,000 |
- 47% |
$156,447,000 |
| 7 |
Mcfarland, Usa |
Disney |
$5,318,000 |
- 32% |
$29,426,000 |
| 8 |
The Lazarus Effect |
Relativity |
$5,100,000 |
- 50% |
$17,400,316 |
| 9 |
The Duff |
Lionsgate |
$4,850,000 |
- 29% |
$26,116,000 |
| 10 |
Unfinished Business |
Fox |
$4,800,000 |
New |
$4,800,000 |
| 11 |
American Sniper |
WARNER BROS. |
$4,510,000 |
- 39% |
$337,209,000 |
| 12 |
Still Alice |
Sony Classics |
$1,650,000 |
- 38% |
$14,723,000 |
| |
Also Opening/Notables |
| |
Road Hard |
Filmbuff |
$112,909 |
New |
$112,909 |
| |
Merchants of Doubt |
Sony Classics |
$20,327 |
New |
$20,327 |
| |
An Honest Liar |
Abramorama |
$15,022 |
New |
$15,022 |
| |
A La Mala |
Lionsgate |
$850,000 |
- 39% |
$2,599,000 |
| |
Maps to the Stars |
|
$64,000 |
- 55% |
$264,128 |
| |
Deli Man |
Cohen Media |
$64,527 |
+ 73% |
$120,159 |
| |
Wild Tales |
Sony Classics |
$144,960 |
+ 32% |
$538,661 |
| |
Jupiter Ascending |
WARNER BROS. |
$1,155,000 |
- 46% |
$45,054,000 |
| |
What We Do In the Shadows |
Paladin/unison |
$329,140 |
+ 25% |
$932,000 |
| |
Paddington |
Weinstein Co. |
$1,260,000 |
- 30% |
$72,059,000 |
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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