By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
It was the future by a nose as Tomorrowland edged out Pitch Perfect 2 for the holiday box office crown. It opened to an estimated $32.2 million to PP2 with $30.3 million (all figures reflect 3-day$. Also bowing for Memorial weekend was the reboot of Poltergeist that generated a scary $22.7 million that slotted fourth.
The frame also saw effective expansions for both Far From the Madding Crowd and I’ll See You in My Dreams.
In the niches there was a strong start of $920,000 for Hindi Tanu Wed Manu Returns while new Telugu and Punjabi entries faltered. Exclusive debs were largely disappointing save for Chocolat City, a twist on Magic Mike that grossed $108,000 from 15 runways.
Revenues for the holiday spree topped $150 million that translated into a 19% downturn from both the prior weekend and the 2014 holiday session. A year back the debuts of X-Men: Days of Future Past and Blended opened respectively with $84.5 million and $14.3 million.
Tomorrowland likely won’t have the franchise appeal of Pirates but at least based on tracking reports opened to unanticipated strength. An odd mix of geek and family appeal, studio exit demos identified the audience as 51% male with 56% of viewers aged 25-years and older. Roughly 30% were marked as families.
The film also opened day-and-date in 65 international venues to slightly better than $26 million with Russia leading the way with $3.6 million. Other major territory tallies included Mexico with $2.8 million, the UK with a box office of $2.1 million and $1.9 million in France.
The original Poltergeist bowed in 1982 and spawned two subsequent sequels. While the new incarnation may not win awards, it nonetheless opened to better-than-anticipated grosses. Its opening audience profile was 56% female with 59% of viewers aged 25-years and younger.
| Weekend (estimates) May 22 – 24, 2015 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Tomorrowland | BV | 32.2 (8,100) | NEW | 3972 | 32.2 |
| Pitch Perfect 2 | Uni | 30.3 (8,730) | -56% | 3473 | 117.8 |
| Mad Max: Fury Road | WB | 23.7 (6,390) | -48% | 3702 | 87.1 |
| Poltergeist | Fox | 22.7 (7,020) | NEW | 3240 | 22.7 |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | BV | 21.0 (4,900) | -46% | 4276 | 404.2 |
| Hot Pursuit | WB | 3.4 (1,330) | -40% | 2577 | 28.9 |
| Far From the Madding Crowd | Searchlight | 2.3 (2,610) | 81% | 865 | 5.4 |
| Furious 7 | Uni | 2.1 (1,280) | -42% | 1653 | 347 |
| Home | Fox | 1.7 (1,170) | -34% | 1444 | 168 |
| Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 | Sony | 1.7 (920) | -51% | 1878 | 65.5 |
| The Age of Adaline | Lionsgate | 1.4 (840) | -56% | 1643 | 39.8 |
| Ex Machina | A24/Mongrel | 1.3 (1,480) | -37% | 896 | 21.9 |
| Tanu Weds Manu Returns | Eros | .92 (6,780) | NEW | 136 | 0.92 |
| Woman in Gold | Weinstein Co. | .83 (1,250) | -31% | 662 | 30.3 |
| Cinderella | BV | .37 (1,050) | -41% | 356 | 197.8 |
| Piku | Yash Raj | .28 (2,540) | -53% | 111 | 2.3 |
| I’ll See You in My Dreams | Bleecker Street | .27 (10,350) | 416% | 26 | 0.34 |
| The Longest Ride | Fox | .25 (760) | -54% | 329 | 36.8 |
| Get Hard | WB | .25 (980) | -59% | 255 | 89.3 |
| Insurgent | Lionsgate | .22 (840) | -42% | 266 | 128.6 |
| Where Hope Grows | Rodside Attractions | .20 (910) | -56% | 221 | 0.83 |
| Kingsmen: The Secret Service | Fox | .18 (970) | -8% | 186 | 127.8 |
| Monkey Kingdom | BV | .18 (620) | -63% | 290 | 15.8 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $145.55 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -19% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -19% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| La Famille Belier | Seville | .14 (3,010) | 13% | 46 | 0.65 |
| Iris | Magnolia | .12 (1,890) | -9% | 65 | 0.61 |
| 5 Flights Up | Focus | .12 (1,460) | -34% | 80 | 0.7 |
| Chocolate City | FreeStyle | .11 (7,200) | 15 | 0.11 | |
| The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed … | Music Box | .10 (1,820) | 87% | 54 | 0.22 |
| While We’re Young | A24/Elevation | .10 (890) | -37% | 114 | 7.3 |
| Good Kill | IFC/Remstar | 92,100 (700) | 41% | 132 | 0.19 |
| Saint Laurent | Sony Classics | 72,600 (1,230) | 97% | 59 | 0.18 |
| Welcome to Me | Alchemy | 49,900 (1,780) | -48% | 28 | 0.51 |
| The Salt of the Earth | Sony Classics | 46,300 (1,010) | -31% | 46 | 1.1 |
| Wild Tales | Sony Classics | 44,700 (1,400) | -19% | 32 | 2.9 |
| Danny Collins | Bleecker/Elevation | 42,500 (510) | -43% | 84 | 5.6 |
| Oh Yaara … Ainvayi Anvayi Lut Glut | Punjabi | 36,800 (2,300) | 16 | 0.04 | |
| When Marnie Was There | Gkids | 24,800 (12,400) | 2 | 0.02 | |
| Sunshine Superman | Magnolia | 9,200 (3,070) | 3 | 0.01 | |
| Mosagallaku Mosagadu | Global | 8,400 (380) | 22 | 0.01 | |
| Farewell Party | IDP | 6,500 (3,250) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Gueros | Kino | 5,800 (5,800) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Love at First Fight | Strand | 3,400 (1,700) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Human Centipede 3 | IFC | 2,600 (2,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Aloft | Sony Classics | 1,980 (990) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – May 21, 2015) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Universal (11) | 747.4 | 18.70% | |||
| Warner Bros. (14) | 736.4 | 18.50% | |||
| Buena Vista (9) | 735.9 | 18.50% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (12) | 495.6 | 12.40% | |||
| Paramount (7) | 276.5 | 6.90% | |||
| Lionsgate (8) | 207.1 | 5.20% | |||
| Sony (7) | 192.6 | 4.80% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (10) | 188.9 | 4.70% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (5) | 76.9 | 1.90% | |||
| Relativity (6) | 71.7 | 1.80% | |||
| Sony Classics (11) | 41.5 | 1.10% | |||
| CBS (1) | 34.1 | 0.85% | |||
| A24 (3) | 31.5 | 0.80% | |||
| Open Road (4) | 22.2 | 0.55% | |||
| Other * (161) | 130.4 | 3.30% | |||
| 3988.7 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.45% | |||||
