The Weekend Report

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies led the weekend for a third time with an estimated $41.6 million but not without unexpected competition from new titles. Both the harrowing journey of Unbroken and the Grimm musical Into the Woods opened to better-than-expected box office of $31.7 million and $31 million, respectively.

The majors bowed four new national releases and three additional titles in limited platforms. With the winners came disappointments. On the minus side were the remake of the 1974 James Caan-Jimmy Toback drama The Gambler that grossed $9.2 million,  and Tim Burton’s lower-case biopic Big Eyes with a $3 million tally.

And The Interview grossed an OK $1.9 million at 331 independent locations.

Oscar-potential exclusives both had excellent results. Selma, centered on Martin Luther King’s historic protest march, bowed to $590,000 on 19 screens and Clint Eastwood’s true-life contemporary war saga American Sniper hit a bullseye with $580,000 from five entrenchments.

In the niches, new titles from India couldn’t find any traction in a marketplace dominated by the phenomenal success of P.K. New titles on the Chinese, South Korean and Filipino circuits had better if not dynamic results. And Oscar submitted foreign-language films included Russia’s Leviathan (on the short list) with $14,900 at two locations and from Belgium, Two Days, One Night (which missed the cut) grossed $27,800 from two playdates.

Session business was upbeat with roughly $215 million in revenues and a sizeable 58% bump from the prior weekend. It was also 8% improved from 2013 when holdovers of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Frozen led with $29 million and $28.6 million respectively and the top newcomers was The Wolf of Wall Street with $18.4 million.

Unbroken, based on the inspirational book on Olympian and World War II P.O.W. Louis Zamperini led daily box office on opening day (Christmas Thursday). The grueling tale had top-end expectations of $30 million for the four-day span and easily surpassed that with a $47.3 million gross. It unexpectedly tilted female with 52% of the opening crowd with 71% of the audience aged 25-years and older.

Similarly, Sondheim adaptation Into the Woods was tuned up to gross $30 million and wound up with $46.1 million. It emerged as the holiday family choice through a clever and effective marketing campaign. It also favored women with 54% of viewers and tilted slightly older with 57% of the audience aged 25-years and older. The film also bowed in six international venues to $2.7 million with South Korea accounting for the majority with $1.9 million.

The Gambler got lost in the shuffle due to a lack of Oscar buzz and its basis on a film that lacked a following. Studio exit demos identified the audience as 51% male and 81% aged 25-years and older.

The near-unbelievable tale of Margaret Keane, painter of google-ocular children, provided the inspiration for Big Eyes. But the cult nature of the subject recalled the appeal of filmmaker Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (written by the same scribes) and delivered comparably limited returns. Opening viewers were 59% female with 75% aged 25 years and older.

The drama surrounding The Interview resulted in a potent $1 million gross on Christmas day. But interest waned as the weekend progressed. Capacity crowds in smaller independent theater venues had a top-end potential of $5 million and furnished $2.9 million for the four-day span.

Oscar qualifiers Selma and American Sniper provided unexpected toeholds in the closing days of 2014. Set in 1965 and focusing on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s historic march, Selma had already established its creds and was expected to figure prominently in Oscar consideration. But American Sniper had largely been ignored by oddsmakers and that might now change … or at least provide voters pause for re-evaluation.

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