By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
The attraction was considerable as Gravity retained a commanding pull in the marketplace with an estimated $43.6 million, a relatively modest 22% lower orbit from its opening box office. That meant that the critically-acclaimed Captain Phillip had to settle for second mate with a solid debut of $25.8 million. The session’s only other national newcomer was genre actioner Machete Kills, which grossed $3.7 million..
In limited wide release, Romeo and Juliet returned with the immortal tween couple generating a few sparks with a $530,000 tally at 461 venues. Indian imports saw new entries from the Hindi and Punjabi sectors but only the Telugu Ramayya Vastavayya took limited vengeance with a $272,000 box office from 108 engagements. And the urban drama The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete grossed a self-fulfilling $254,000 from 147 engagements.
In Canada, the Thanksgiving holiday sparked several new releases including the rom-com The Right Kind of Wrong that blitzed on 165 screens to a disappointing $199,000 and buddy comedy Amsterdam, which showed slightly more capital with $92,700 at 37 sites.
A flood of debuting exclusives were largely moribund with the notable exception being the inspirational The Saratov Approach that had a $202,000 box office from a mere 23 venues.
Weekend revenues added up to roughly $117 million and 7% slippage from a week back. It was also a 10% drop from 2012 when the second weekend of Taken 2 topped the charts with $21.9 million with debs Argo and Sinister right behind with opening tallies of $19.5 million and $18 million respectively.
With the box office erosion of the past four weeks 2013 has now dropped to being flat with prior year’s pace.
The real life hostage taking saga that forms the basis of Captain Phillips was expected to open in the range of $24 million to $26 million and did not disappoint. Studio exit polls also were aligned with expectations with a modest 52% male tilt and 73% of the crowd aged 25-years and older.
The film is nicely positioned to ride the waves of the imminent award’s season and that will no doubt (as can already be seen with Gravity) bring in a younger demographic. The industry continues to grapple with the reality that its core audience is aging and the once dominant 18-25 year old sector has become less vicarious in its movie decisions.
| Weekend (estimates) October 11 – 13, 2013 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Gravity | WB | 43.6 (11,900) | -22% | 3660 | 122.7 |
| Captain Phillips | Sony | 25.8 (8,530) | NEW | 3020 | 25.8 |
| Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 | Sony | 14.2 (3,670) | -32% | 3874 | 78.1 |
| Prisoners | WB | 3.7 (1,290) | -36% | 2855 | 53.6 |
| Runner Runner | Fox | 3.7 (1,220) | -52% | 3026 | 14.1 |
| Machete Kills | Open Road/VVS | 3.7 (1,460) | NEW | 2538 | 3.7 |
| Insidious: Chapter 2 | FilmDistrict/eOne | 2.7 (1,240) | -31% | 2156 | 78.5 |
| Don Jon | Relativity/Remstar | 2.3 (1,170) | -44% | 1996 | 20.1 |
| Rush | Uni/eOne | 2.3 (1,100) | -48% | 2130 | 22.2 |
| Baggage Claim | Fox Searchlight | 2.0 (1,540) | -50% | 1320 | 18.2 |
| Enough Said | Fox Searchlight | 2.0 (3,250) | -10% | 606 | 8.2 |
| We’re the Millers | WB | 1.1 (980) | -30% | 1150 | 146.5 |
| Pulling Strings | Lionsgate | 1.1 (2,520) | -56% | 428 | 4.1 |
| Instructions Not Included | Lionsgate | 1.0 (1,420) | -45% | 711 | 42.7 |
| Lee Daniels’ The Butler | Weinstein Co. | .62 (630) | -49% | 980 | 113.5 |
| The Family | Relativity | .57 (540) | -63% | 1050 | 35.8 |
| Despicable Me 2 | Uni | .53 (1,210) | 9% | 434 | 363.1 |
| Romeo and Juliet | Relativity | .52 (1,120) | NEW | 461 | 0.52 |
| Grace Unplugged | Roadside Attractions | .51 (1,010) | -49% | 502 | 1.7 |
| Monsters University | BV | .37 (1,560) | -13% | 235 | 267.1 |
| Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | Fox | .34 (850) | -20% | 404 | 66.5 |
| Ramayya Vastavayya | My3 Movies | .27 (2,520) | NEW | 108 | 0.44 |
| Riddick | Uni/eOne | .26 (600) | -52% | 430 | 41.7 |
| The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete | Lionsgate | .25 (1,730) | NEW | 147 | 0.25 |
| Planes | BV | .23 (610) | -10% | 380 | 88.4 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $112.00 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -10% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -7% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Blue Jasmine | Sony Classics | .21 (1,120) | -39% | 190 | 31.7 |
| The Saratov Approach | Three Coin | .20 (8,780) | NEW | 23 | 0.2 |
| The Right Kind of Wrong | eOne | .20 (1,210) | 165 | 0.2 | |
| Inequality for All | Weinstein Co. | .14 (1,730) | -1% | 80 | 0.54 |
| The Face Reader | Pan Media | .12 (6,430) | -28% | 18 | 0.36 |
| Wadjda | Sony Classics | .10 (2,160) | -16% | 47 | 0.61 |
| Amsterdam | Seville | 92,700 (2,510) | 37 | 0.09 | |
| Parkland | Exclusive | 82,100 (620) | -74% | 133 | 0.52 |
| Escape from Tomorrow | PDA | 49,600 (1,320) | 30 | 0.05 | |
| Linsanity | Ketchup | 47,300 (2,960) | -52% | 16 | 0.18 |
| Austenland | Sony Classics | 42,500 (830) | -22% | 52 | 1.9 |
| Blue is the Warmest Color (Adele) | Metropole (Québec) | 40,400 (2,380) | 17 | 0.04 | |
| R.S.V.P. | Roadside | 32,200 (1,690) | 19 | 0.03 | |
| Unlimited | Gundersen | 30,300 (6,060) | 5 | 0.03 | |
| Vanakkam Chennai | Ayngaran | 15,400 (1,030) | 15 | 0.02 | |
| Naiyaandi | Ayngaran | 14,100 (440) | 32 | 0.01 | |
| Tough as Iron | CJ Entertainment | 12,400 (1,130) | 11 | 0.01 | |
| Ghost Team One | Film Arcade | 8,100 (540) | 15 | 0.01 | |
| Design is One | First Run | 5,800 (2,900) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| War Chhod na Yaar | Big Pictures | 5,400 (360) | 15 | 0.01 | |
| God Loves Uganda | Variance | 5,350 (5,350) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Broadway Idiot | FilmBuff | 5,200 (5,200) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| As I Lay Dying | Millennium | 5,100 (5,100) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| The Bastards | Mongrel | 4,100 (4,100) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Sweetwater | Arc Entertainment | 2,700 (255) | 11 | 0.01 | |
| Cassadaga | Archstone | 1,800 (600) | 3 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – Oct. 10, 2013) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office (millions) | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (21) | 1441.3 | 17.10% | |||
| Universal (15) | 1295.6 | 15.40% | |||
| Buena Vista (10) | 1164.6 | 13.80% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (14) | 958.1 | 11.40% | |||
| Sony (16) | 870.4 | 10.30% | |||
| Paramount (12) | 728.4 | 8.70% | |||
| Lionsgate (21) | 536.8 | 6.40% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (22) | 471.8 | 5.60% | |||
| FilmDistrict (6) | 190.8 | 2.30% | |||
| Relativity (6) | 164.4 | 2.00% | |||
| Open Road (5) | 108.3 | 1.30% | |||
| Focus (8) | 85.3 | 1.00% | |||
| Sony Classics (15) | 65.5 | 0.80% | |||
| eOne/Seville (23) | 54.8 | 0.60% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (9) | 53 | 0.60% | |||
| Other * (267) | 224.4 | 2.70% | |||
| 8413.5 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% |
