By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Not exactly a happy Chappie but nonetheless the debut yarn of a “human” robot led session viewing with an estimated $13.1 million in an inclement frame. Two other new national releases bowed, with the Vince Vaughn comedy vehicle Unfinished Business posting dire results of $4.7 million, while The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel provided a ray of sunshine with $8.4 million.
Exclusive bows were tepid, with the best debut from the reissue of 1975 doc Grey Gardens posting $11,200 from a single screen. Coincidentally, the newly restored edition opened the morning after the passing of co-director Albert Maysles.
In the niches there was a potent $498,000 bow for Filipino rom-com Crazy Beautiful You bit disappointing results for new Indian imports including Tamil Surya vs. Surya of $45,800. Also strong was Hong Kong comedy 12 Golden Ducks, grossing $82,400 from 10 ponds.
Weekend revenues contracted to less than $90 million and dipped 17% from the prior frame. It was down an even steeper 39% from 2014 when the openings of 300: Rise of an Empire and Mr. Peabody and Sherman led with $45 million and $32.2 million, respectively
Expectations were high for Chappie… until word from early previews leaked out. And as opening day crept closer, the prospect of a $20 million debut faded though pundits prognosticated in the range of $16 million to $18 million. Critical response was withering. The opening throng was identified as 60% male with 57% of viewers aged 30-years and younger.
Unfinished Business was a more pronounced sort of bomb as tracking charitably accorded it a $7 million or $8 million launch. It also skewed male with 55% of the biz and 54% of the audience aged 25-years and older. It bodes ill for Tom Wilkinson’s future prospects coupled with his demise in the original Marigold Hotel.
Meanwhile the current guest of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel slightly exceeded expectations of $7-8 million. The sequel opened solidly to $9.4 million in three foreign climes last weekend. U.S. opening exit demos revealed a 65% female tilt and a decidedly older crowd with close to 90% of viewers aged 25-years and older.
Two weeks post-Oscar the winners have all but memories. American Sniper’s current weekend pushed it into first place among movies that originally bowed in 2014, albeit with 99.5% of its box office occurring in the subsequent year.
| Weekend (estimates) March 6 – 8, 2015 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Chappie | Sony | 13.1 (4,110) | NEW | 3201 | 13.1 |
| Focus | WB | 9.8 (2,960) | -48% | 3323 | 34.4 |
| The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Fox Searchlight | 8.4 (5,360) | NEW | 1573 | 8.4 |
| Kingsman: The Secret Service | Fox | 8.3 (2,670) | -30% | 3101 | 98 |
| SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | Par | 6.9 (2,240) | -36% | 3097 | 148.9 |
| 50 Shades of Grey | Uni | 5.6 (2,010) | -47% | 2788 | 156.4 |
| McFarland, USA | BV | 5.3 (1,890) | -33% | 2792 | 29.4 |
| The Lazarus Effect | Relativity/D Film | 5.1 (1,910) | -50% | 2666 | 17.4 |
| The Duff | CBS | 4.8 (1,850) | -30% | 2622 | 26.1 |
| Unfinished Business | Fox | 4.7 (1,710) | NEW | 2777 | 4.7 |
| American Sniper | WB | 4.6 (1,800) | -38% | 2545 | 337.3 |
| Still Alice | Sony Classics | 1.6 (1,340) | -39% | 1197 | 14.7 |
| Paddington | Weinstein Co. | 1.3 (1,130) | -29% | 1135 | 72.1 |
| Jupiter Ascending | WB | 1.2 (1,240) | -45% | 943 | 45.1 |
| The Imitation Game | Weinstein/Elev | 1.2 (1,360) | -38% | 862 | 88.5 |
| A La Mala | Lionsgate | .84 (2,190) | -40% | 384 | 2.6 |
| Birdman | Fox Searchlight | .73 (940) | -62% | 777 | 41.6 |
| Hot Tub Time Machine 2 | Par | .53 (590) | -78% | 900 | 11.8 |
| Crazy Beautiful You | ABS | .50 (10,590) | NEW | 47 | 0.5 |
| The Wedding Ringer | Sony | .38 (1,220) | -38% | 310 | 63.5 |
| Selma | Par | .36 (1,330) | -19% | 270 | 50.9 |
| What We Do in the Shadows | Paladin/VSC | .34 (3,240) | 25% | 105 | 1.1 |
| Big Hero 6 | BV | .32 (1,030) | -40% | 310 | 221.3 |
| Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb | Fox | .28 (1,060) | -8% | 265 | 112.3 |
| Whiplash | Sony Classics | .27 (940) | -59% | 289 | 12.7 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $84.50 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -39% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -17% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Wild Tales | Sony Classics | .14 (4,980) | 27% | 28 | 0.53 |
| Mr. Turner | Sony Classics | .12 (1,060) | -40% | 114 | 3.5 |
| Road Hard | FilmBuff | .10 (4,740) | 22 | 0.1 | |
| 12 Golden Ducks | Media Asia | 82,400 (8,240) | 10 | 0.08 | |
| Leviathan | Sony Classics | 69,800 (980) | -43% | 71 | 1 |
| ’71 | Roadside Attract. | 68,500 (4,280) | 23% | 16 | 0.14 |
| Gett: The Trial of Vivian Anselam | Music Box/EyeSteel | 64,200 (2,570) | -13% | 25 | 0.26 |
| Maps to the Stars | Focus World | 63,700 (1,050) | -56% | 61 | 0.26 |
| Timbuktu | Cohen Media | 62,700 (1,740) | -29% | 36 | 0.74 |
| Deli Man | Cohen Media | 61,300 (2,450) | 64% | 25 | 0.12 |
| Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island | CJ | 50,500 (2,660) | 19 | 0.05 | |
| Surya vs. Surya | Movie Arts | 45,800 (690) | 66 | 0.05 | |
| Enakkul Oruvan | Praneeth Media | 26,300 (820) | 32 | 0.03 | |
| Merchants of Doubt | Sony Classics | 19,600 (4,900) | 4 | 0.02 | |
| An Honest Liar | Abramorama | 14,200 (7,100) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Grey Gardens (reissue) | Janus | 11,200 (11,200) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Chorus | Fun Film | 9,700 (1,610) | 6 | 0.01 | |
| Kidnapping Mr. Heineken | Alchemy | 6,600 (550) | 12 | 0.01 | |
| Straight Outta Tompkins | Indican | 5,800 (2,900) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Buzzard | Oscilloscope | 5,900 (590) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Faults | Screen Media | 5,100 (640) | 8 | 0.01 | |
| Allure | Surla | 1,800 (1,800) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – March 5, 2015) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (9) | 476.9 | 25.90% | |||
| Universal (8) | 265.6 | 14.50% | |||
| Paramount (7) | 252.4 | 13.70% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (9) | 241.4 | 13.10% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (6) | 136.6 | 7.40% | |||
| Buena Vista (6) | 117.1 | 6.40% | |||
| Sony (5) | 95.5 | 5.20% | |||
| Relativity (5) | 57.6 | 3.10% | |||
| Lionsgate (5) | 36.8 | 2.00% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (2) | 34.3 | 1.90% | |||
| Sony Classics (7) | 29.6 | 1.60% | |||
| CBS (1) | 21.3 | 1.20% | |||
| Focus (4) | 13.7 | 0.75% | |||
| Other * (72) | 59.6 | 3.25% | |||
| 1838.4 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.5% | |||||
