By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
| Weekend (estimates) February 7 – 9, 2014 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| The Lego Movie | WB | 68.8 (18,230) | NEW | 3775 | 68.8 |
| The Monuments Men | Sony | 22.1 (7,180) | NEW | 3083 | 22.1 |
| Ride Along | Uni | 9.4 (3,350) | -22% | 2800 | 105.1 |
| Frozen | BV | 6.9 (2,820) | -23% | 2460 | 368.7 |
| That Awkward Moment | Focus/VVS | 5.4 (1,930) | -38% | 2809 | 16.7 |
| Lone Survivor | Uni/eOne | 5.3 (1,840) | -26% | 2869 | 112.6 |
| Vampire Academy | Weinstein Co. | 4.0 (1,480) | NEW | 2676 | 4 |
| The Nut Job | Open Road/eOne | 3.8 (1,250) | -48% | 3004 | 55 |
| Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit | Par | 3.5 (1,640) | -34% | 2139 | 44.4 |
| Labor Day | Par | 3.1 (1,210) | -39% | 2584 | 10.1 |
| American Hustle | Sony/eOne | 3.0 (1,850) | -27% | 1640 | 138.1 |
| The Wolf of Wall Street | Par | 2.5 (2,170) | -25% | 1167 | 107.8 |
| Gravity | WB | 1.6 (2,340) | -21% | 701 | 266.4 |
| August Osage County | Weinstein | 1.5 (1,100) | -51% | 1327 | 34.3 |
| I, Frankenstein | Lionsgate | 1.4 (970) | -63% | 1427 | 17.4 |
| Philomena | Weinstein | .79 (1,570) | -18% | 504 | 28.7 |
| 12 Years a Slave | Fox Searchlight | .78 (1,150) | -46% | 678 | 47.3 |
| Her | WB | .72 (1,570) | -39% | 457 | 22.4 |
| The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | WB | .70 (1,300) | -43% | 537 | 255.4 |
| Nebraska | Par | .69 (1,310) | -40% | 525 | 14.9 |
| The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | Lionsgate | .66 (1,250) | -30% | 529 | 422.4 |
| Dallas Buyers Club | Focus/Mongrel | .61 (1,250) | -55% | 488 | 23.7 |
| Saving Mr. Banks | BV | .42 (870) | -60% | 485 | 81.9 |
| Hasee Toh Phasee | Big Pictures | .32 (3,610) | NEW | 88 | 0.32 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $147.25 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 48% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 80% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Gloria | Roadside | .22 (3,450) | 32% | 65 | 0.53 |
| The Attorney | Well Go | .18 (7,010) | 26 | 0.18 | |
| The Great Beauty | Janus/Mongrel | .14 (1,850) | -23% | 75 | 2 |
| The Past | SPC | .10 (1,520) | -7% | 67 | 0.84 |
| The Invisible Woman | SPC | 53,800 (730) | -66% | 74 | 0.98 |
| Paisa | Blue Sky | 45,700 (1,580) | 29 | 0.05 | |
| Tim’s Vermeer | SPC | 36,200 (5,170) | -27% | 7 | 0.12 |
| Kids for Cash | SenArt | 34,200 (8,550) | 4 | 0.03 | |
| Pannaiyarum Padminiyum | Qube | 23,900 (1,590) | 15 | 0.02 | |
| Afternoon of a Faun | Kino | 14,100 (7,050) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage | Giant Flick | 12,600 (480) | 26 | 0.01 | |
| The Last of the Unjust | Cohen Media | 10,500 (2,100) | 5 | 0.01 | |
| Alphaville (reissue) | Rialto | 7,400 (7,400) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Someone Marry Barry | FreeStyle | 6,700 (740) | 9 | 0.01 | |
| Welcome to the Jungle | Cinedigm | 6,200 (480) | 13 | 0.01 | |
| 7 Boxes | Breaking Glass | 5,500 (1,380) | 4 | 0.01 | |
| A Field in England | Drafthouse | 5,400 (450) | 12 | 0.01 | |
| Nurse | Film Arcade | 4,700 (4,700) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| The Fantastic Fear of Everything | Cinedigm | 3,300 (370) | 9 | 0.01 | |
| The Outsider | Image | 2,700 (2,700) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Not for Human Consumption | Bosch | 2,400 (1,200) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (Jan. 1 – February 6, 2014) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Universal (6) | 212.7 | 21.50% | |||
| Paramount (6) | 186.9 | 18.90% | |||
| Buena Vista (4) | 138.7 | 14.00% | |||
| Warner Bros. (4) | 96.1 | 9.70% | |||
| Lionsgate (6) | 68.7 | 7.00% | |||
| Sony (3) | 64.9 | 6.60% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (5) | 52.6 | 5.30% | |||
| Open Road (3) | 48.5 | 4.90% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (4) | 46.5 | 4.70% | |||
| eOne/Seville (5) | 19.5 | 2.00% | |||
| Focus (2) | 16.1 | 1.60% | |||
| CBS (2) | 10.3 | 1.00% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (2) | 8.7 | 0.90% | |||
| Other * (44) | 18.8 | 1.90% | |||
| 989 | 100% | ||||
The Lego Movie snapped the industry to attention with a record-breaking estimated debut of $68.8 million. The bridesmaid slot went to another freshman, fact-based Second World War caper The Monuments Men. with a sterling $22.1 million. Third national opener Vampire Academy sucked the wrong way with a $4 million bow that drains its franchise prospects.
Exclusive newcomers were generally unimpressive with the exception of the nonfiction Kids for Cash with $34,200 from four screens, and a single screen revival of Godard’s 1965 Alphaville that posted $7,400.
In the niches, Bollywood launched Hasee Toh Phasee to OK results of $317,000 but new Telugu and Tamil movies fizzled. Also strong on the specialized circuit was Korea’s The Attorney, which billed $182,000 from 26 venues.
Overall revenues for the frame edged toward $155 million for a boisterous 80% jump from the prior weekend. It was also an impressive 48% boost from 2013 when the launch of Identity Thief led with $34.6 million and newcomer Side Effects slotted third with $9.3 million.
Industry expectations were high for The Lego Movie despite skepticism that the malleable toy wasn’t a natural fit for the big screen. Nonetheless tracking was positive and pundits predicted a $60 million debut. It handily exceeded those expectations and set a new benchmark for a February animated release that’s likely to spawn a sequel that was heretofore penciled in for Xmas 2016.
The brawny toy store durable skewed 55% male with an audience that was 59% aged 18-years and older. Internationally it launched day-and-date in 34 markets (excluding preview engagements) with early estimates of $18 million including a torrid $4 million debut in Mexico and $2 million from Spain.
Despite generally tepid reviews for The Monuments Men, trackers anticipated a high-end $20 million opening thanks to its cast and clever marketing campaign. The reverse art heist yarn skewed slightly female with 52% of the opening crowd but was decidedly older with 75% of viewers aged 25-years and older. Its initial foreign engagements roll out next weekend.
While not exactly Hogwarts, Vampire Academy had the earmarks for a series to emulate its printed page origins. Opening expectations weren’t high … but considerably better than the posted results.
