By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
| Weekend (estimates) January 24 – 26, 2014 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Ride Along | Uni | 21.1 (7,660) | -49% | 2759 | 75.4 |
| Lone Survivor | Uni/eOne | 12.6 (3,980) | -43% | 3162 | 93.6 |
| The Nut Job | Open Road/eOne | 12.1 (3,520) | -38% | 3427 | 40 |
| Frozen | BV | 8.9 (3,220) | -25% | 2757 | 347.7 |
| Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit | Par | 8.8 (2,610) | -43% | 3387 | 30.2 |
| I, Frankenstein | Lionsgate | 8.1 (2,950) | NEW | 2753 | 8.1 |
| American Hustle | Sony/eOne | 7.0 (3,030) | -29% | 2304 | 126.9 |
| The Wolf of Wall Street | Par | 5.1 (2,810) | -28% | 1804 | 98.1 |
| August Osage County | Weinstein Co. | 4.9 (2,050) | -33% | 2411 | 26.4 |
| Devil’s Due | Fox | 2.8 (1,080) | -67% | 2544 | 12.9 |
| Her | WB | 2.3 (1,710) | -44% | 1325 | 19.2 |
| Saving Mr. Banks | BV | 2.1 (1,270) | -46% | 1660 | 79.2 |
| The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | WB | 2.1 (1,650) | -43% | 1285 | 252.3 |
| Dallas Buyers Club | Focus/Mongrel | 2.0 (1,770) | 109% | 1110 | 20.3 |
| 12 Years a Slave | Fox Searchlight | 1.9 (1,570) | 26% | 1231 | 43.5 |
| Gravity | WB | 1.9 (1,530) | 3% | 1260 | 261.1 |
| The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | Lionsgate | 1.5 (1,450) | -38% | 1051 | 420 |
| Nebraska | Par | 1.5 (1,510) | 65% | 968 | 11.6 |
| The Legend of Hercules | Lionsgate | 1.1 (820) | -67% | 1371 | 16.9 |
| Philomena | Weinstein Co, | 1.0 (2,000) | -20% | 505 | 25.8 |
| Jai Ho | Eros | .82 (4,240) | NEW | 194 | 0.82 |
| Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues | Par | .81 (990) | -63% | 824 | 123.8 |
| Gimme Shelter | Roadside Attractions | .66 (1,720) | 385 | 0.66 | |
| The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Fox | .61 (1,140) | -53% | 540 | 56.3 |
| Inside Llewyn Davis | CBS | .50 (1,700) | -51% | 289 | 12 |
| Captain Phillips | Sony | .32 (1,070) | -38% | 302 | 106.3 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $112.20 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 4% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -35% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| The Invisible Woman | Sony Classics | .26 (1,720) | 87% | 153 | 0.59 |
| The Great Beauty | Janus | .14 (2,490) | 0% | 55 | 1.5 |
| The Past | Sony Classics | .10 (3,140) | 7% | 33 | 0.52 |
| Gloria | Roadside Attract. | 53,700 (17,900) | 3 | 0.05 | |
| Inspired Guns | Pitch White | 30,300 (1,510) | 20 | 0.03 | |
| Stranger by the Lake | Strand | 26,700 (8,900) | 3 | 0.03 | |
| Devil’s Knot | Remstar | 16,500 (2,060) | 8 | 0.02 | |
| Miss Granny | CJ Entertainment | 13,600 (13,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Knights of Badassdom | eOne | 11,100 (1,590) | 7 | 0.01 | |
| Visitors | Cinedgm | 10,200 (10,200) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Whitewash: L’Homme que j’ai tue | Seville | 5,800 (580) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Enemies Closer | Film Arcade | 4,600 (460) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Run & Jump | IFC | 4,400 (2,200) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Papirosen | Film Movement | 2,700 (2,700) | 1 | 0.01 |
It was the same one-two punch as last weekend with Ride Along leading the session with an estimated $21.1 million, followed by Lone Survivor with $12.6 million. It’s the second weekend that the top two films were distributed by the same studio–a true rarity that last occurred in 1994.
The frame’s only national newcomer was I, Frankenstein, an update of the classic tale culled from a graphic novel. Industry tracking suggested it would be a step behind the weekend leader, but monsters tend to tread heavily and the film finished in sixth place with a disappointing $8.8 million.
Among the new exclusives the best of the batch all came with subtitles. Chile’s much-admired Oscar submission Gloria garnered $53,700 from three screens, French gay thriller Stranger by the Lake exposed $26,700 at three locations and Korea’s Miss Granny had a solo go at $13,600.
Oscar frenzy also saw a number of contenders adding screens with the likes of Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska and 12 Years a Slave especially in search of second wind.
In the niches, Bollywood’s latest Jai Ho was off to a solid start of $820,000 while the American indie Gimme Shelter failed to reflect the grit of street life with a $662,000 tally.
Weekend revenues were close to $120 million for a 35% dip from the 3-day portion of last weekend’s MLK holiday. It was also a slim 4% boost from 2013 when the debut of Hansel and Gretel: Vampire Hunters led with $19.7 million.
Audiences said “no” to I, Frankenstein. Tracking indicated a low-end expectation of $15 million and while reviews were less than enthusiastic, when has that matterd to a genre picture of this kind? Its studio is frankly dumbfounded by the result and perhaps there’s no better explanation than consummate lack of interest. The profile of those who picked up the pieces was 62% male and 60% aged 25-years and older.
The Oscar race provided Gravity and August: Osage County with a few more playdates and some additional cash domestically. But the commercial fate of niche fare that includes Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club and Inside Llewyn Davis has considerably greater significance. For Davis the absence of nominations in “money” categories has put a pin in its commercial balloon. The other two films. while hardly experiencing a massive renewal of love, are at least managing to hold their own in the marketplace and may be able to struggle through the next five weeks to the final walk up the red carpet.
