By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Cinderella broke through the glass (slipper) ceiling to command weekend viewing with an estimated $69.1 million. The venerable partygoer put a damper on the session’s only other wide newcomer, brooding thriller Run All Night, that came to ground with $11 million.
Exclusive and limited bows provided a couple of potent debuts as well as a sayonara for critically-excoriated The Cobbler that grossed $22,200 at 20 shoeboxes. The Wrecking Crew proved more tuneful with $57,500 from 10 gigs. The big noise was Alex Gibney’s Scientology doc Going Clear with $60,300 from three screens and a stand-out $154,000 for critically-lauded teen chiller It Follows from a mere four playdates. Hindi NH 10 had fair results of $149,000 in a disappointing first quarter for Bollywood fare.
Box office bounced back with revenues of more than $130 million. That was a 51% uptick from the immediate prior weekend and an 18% improvement from 2014. A year back the second weekend of Mr. Peabody and Sherman led with $21.8 million with Need for Speed the top newcomer at $17.8 million. The folks at Disney were only slightly on edge about its live-action Cinderella. There was no question from polling that the public were familiar with the title… but did they know there was a new, non-animated version? It arrived on the low end of pundit’s predictions that capped out around $75 million. While fears of an awkward transition dogged the production critical response was positive and studio exit profiles identified the audience as 66% families. It also tilted 66% female (there are never too many princesses) with 55% of the crowd aged 25-years and younger. The film also went out day and date in 32 international territories with China ahead of the pack with an estimated $25 million of a $69 million total. Other major bows included Russia, Italy, Japan and Mexico. Tracking wasn’t encouraging for the latest Liam Neeson thriller Run All Night despite generally favorable reviews. While expectations were modest it fell short of predictions in the $14 million to $15 million range and will doubtless induct the actor into the ranks of Will Smith and Sharlto Copley as the next cinematic Joe Bftsplk … until his next box office successs. Studio execs are head scratching about exit polls that revealed a female tilt of 52% and less surprised (but equally concerned) by an audience that was 86% aged 25-years and older.
| Weekend (estimates) March 13 – 15, 2015 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| Cinderella | BV | 69.1 (17,980) | NEW | 3845 | 69.1 |
| Run All Night | WB | 11.0 (3,460) | NEW | 3171 | 11 |
| Kingsman: The Secret Service | Fox | 6.2 (2,340) | -26% | 2635 | 107.3 |
| Focus | WB | 5.8 (2,030) | -42% | 2855 | 44 |
| The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel | Fox Searchlight | 5.7 (2,810) | -33% | 2022 | 18.1 |
| Chappie | Sony | 5.6 (1,740) | -58% | 3201 | 23.2 |
| SpongBob: Sponge Out of Water | Par | 4.1 (1,550) | -38% | 2659 | 154.7 |
| McFarland, USA | BV | 3.6 (1,480) | -31% | 2455 | 34.9 |
| The Duff | CBS | 2.9 (1,270) | -39% | 2301 | 30.3 |
| 50 Shades of Grey | Uni | 2.9 (1,410) | -48% | 2039 | 161.4 |
| American Sniper | WB | 2.9 (1,440) | -35% | 2001 | 341.5 |
| The Lazarus Effect | Relativity/D Film | 2.8 (1,370) | -45% | 2054 | 21.7 |
| Unfinished Business | Fox | 2.2 (810) | -53% | 2777 | 8.6 |
| Still Alice | Sony Classics | .85 (1,150) | -46% | 740 | 16.3 |
| Paddington | Weinstein Co. | .69 (820) | -45% | 837 | 73.3 |
| The Imitation Game | Weinstein/Elevation | .65 (1,240) | -42% | 525 | 89.5 |
| Jupiter Ascending | WB | .51 (1,120) | -54% | 454 | 46 |
| What We Do in the Shadows | Paladin/VSC | .35 (2,680) | 2% | 131 | 1.6 |
| Crazy Beautiful You | ABS | .35 (6,090) | -35% | 58 | 1.2 |
| A La Mala | Lionsgate | .34 (1,240) | -59% | 273 | 3.2 |
| The Wedding Ringer | Sony | .25 (910) | -27% | 277 | 63.9 |
| Wild Tales | Sony Classics | .24 (3,570) | 71% | 68 | 0.82 |
| Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb | Fox | .23 (1,050) | -17% | 220 | 112.7 |
| Selma | Par | .23 (980) | -39% | 231 | 51.4 |
| Big Hero 6 | BV | .22 (860) | -32% | 259 | 221.7 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $127.50 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 18% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 51% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| 71 | Roadside Attract. | .20 (3,050) | 186% | 65 | 0.37 |
| It Follows | Weinstein Co. | .15 (38,550) | 4 | 0.15 | |
| NH 10 | Eros | .15 (3,730) | 40 | 0.15 | |
| Whiplash | Sony Classics | .13 (1,090) | -51% | 120 | 12.9 |
| Mr. Turner | Sony Classics | .12 (1,360) | -5% | 89 | 3.7 |
| Gett: The Trial of Vivian Anselam | Music Box/EyeSteel | 94,200 (2,300) | 54% | 41 | 0.4 |
| Red Army | Sony Classics | 65,400 (1,130) | 5% | 58 | 0.46 |
| Deli Man | Cohen Media | 64,700 (2,020) | 5% | 32 | 0.21 |
| Going Clear: Scientology and Prisoner of Belief | HBO | 60,300 (20,100) | 3 | 0.06 | |
| Timbuktu | Cohen Media | 58,100 (1,490) | -8% | 39 | 0.82 |
| The Wrecking Crew | Magnolia | 57,500 (5,750) | 10 | 0.06 | |
| Leviathan | Sony Classics | 56,200 (1,150) | -23% | 49 | 1.1 |
| Seymour: An Introduction | IFC | 22,800 (11,400) | 2 | 0.02 | |
| The Cobbler | Image Ent. | 22,200 (1,110) | 20 | 0.02 | |
| The Tales of Hoffmann (reissue) | Rialto | 15,400 (7,700) | 2 | 0.02 | |
| The Price We Pay | Film Movement | 13,600 (3,400) | 4 | 0.01 | |
| 3 Hearts | Cohen Media | 11,300 (11,300) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Eva | Weinstein Co. | 10,200 (205) | 50 | 0.01 | |
| Home Sweet Hell | Vertical Ent. | 7,100 (650) | 11 | 0.01 | |
| Cymbeline | Film Arcade | 3,550 (360) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Walter | eOne | 2,300 (1,150) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – March 12, 2015) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Warner Bros. (9) | 498.4 | 25.40% | |||
| Universal (8) | 273.7 | 14.00% | |||
| Paramount (7) | 262.7 | 13.40% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (10) | 260.1 | 13.30% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (7) | 139.8 | 7.10% | |||
| Buena Vista (6) | 125.2 | 6.40% | |||
| Sony (6) | 113.7 | 5.80% | |||
| Relativity (5) | 62.9 | 3.20% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (3) | 47.8 | 2.40% | |||
| Lionsgate (5) | 38.1 | 1.90% | |||
| Sony Classics (7) | 32.9 | 1.70% | |||
| CBS (1) | 27.4 | 1.40% | |||
| Focus (4) | 14.2 | 0.70% | |||
| Other * (80) | 63.8 | 3.30% | |||
| 1960.7 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.5% | |||||
| Top Domestic Grossers * (January 1 – March 12, 2015) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
| American Sniper * | WB | 337,240,264 | |||
| Fifty Shades of Grey | Uni | 158,481,610 | |||
| SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | Par | 150,591,372 | |||
| Kingsman: The Secret Service | Fox | 101,173,238 | |||
| Taken 3 | Fox | 88,397,672 | |||
| Paddington | Weinstein Co. | 72,590,178 | |||
| The Imitation Game * | Weinstein/Elevation | 68,913,679 | |||
| The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies * | WB | 65,225,970 | |||
| The Wedding Ringer | Sony | 63,653,081 | |||
| Into the Woods * | BV | 63,282,826 | |||
| Unbroken * | Uni | 53,109,285 | |||
| Selma * | Par | 49,940,056 | |||
| Jupiter Ascending | WB | 45,465,134 | |||
| Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb * | Fox | 43,093,943 | |||
| Focus | WB | 38,227,415 | |||
| * does not include 2014 box office | |||||
