By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Straight Outta Compton continued to diss the competition as it stayed atop session box office with an estimated $13.2 million. Of a trio of newcomers, only faith-targeted War Room generated strong response with a $10.8 million debut at 1135 spare rooms. The other new releases got creamed with the political thriller No Escape grossing $8.2 million and EDM drama We Are Your Friends gaining no beats at $1.7 million.
In the niches Indian imports included OK starts of $269,000 for Hindi Phantom and $72,600 for Tamil Thani Oruvan at 19 venues. Best of the exclusive freshmen was the Brazilian drama The Second Mother with $26,200 from four.
The frame generated about $88 million and dropped 21% from the immediate prior session and was 22% diminished from 2014. A year back the fifth weekend of Guardians of the Galaxy led with $17.1 million with As Above/So Below the top newcomer with $8.6 million.
The summer season closes up in eight days and this year due to calendar configuration gets an additional week of playtime. However, on a strict comparable week-to-week basis the season is presently 5% ahead of the 2014 but trailing the record 2013 gross by 13%.
The niche faith-based arena got a lift from War Room which tracking had anticipated would generate roughly $10 million. Like its predecessor, the yarn of a family in crisis had a modest budget, very targeted marketing and is likely to have a high multiple box office. The downside remains limited appeal in the international marketplace.
Studio exit demos identified the audience a 60% male with 85% of viewers aged 25-years and older.
No Escape had been scheduled for release earlier in the year and bounced around before landing on the late summer date. It jumped the weekend with a Wednesday debut that brought $2 million into the weekend stanza.
Most crushing was the response to We Are Your Friends, the odyssey of a young man aspiring to a life in the electronic music realm. Despite strong reviews from key critics the film could not overcome a terrible title and a late starting campaign. And to add insult to injury the studio decided not to release exit demos because it felt the polling areas were not reflective or illustrative of the picture’s overall strengths and weaknesses. The firm conducting the work tends to give an undue weight to Heartland and secondary markets that are ideal for the likes of War Room but not particularly helpful for a film that skews toward urban and upscale audiences.
Among the weekend’s alternative expansions Mistress America continued to maintain its niche appeal but The Diary of a Teenage Girl hit a wall. Also showing ongoing strength was Grandma that added 15 runs with an average close to $16,000.
Weekend (estimates) August 28 – 30, 2015 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
Straight Outta Compton | Uni | 13.2 (4,210) | -50% | 3142 | 134.1 |
War Room | Sony | 10.8 (9,500) | NEW | 1135 | 10.8 |
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | Par | 8.4 (2,710) | -27% | 3095 | 170.5 |
No Escape | Weinstein Co. | 8.2 (2,450) | NEW | 3355 | 10.3 |
Sinister 2 | Focus | 4.6 (1,660) | -56% | 2799 | 18.5 |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | WB | 4.5 (1,650) | -39% | 2706 | 34.2 |
Hitman: Agent 47 | Fox | 3.9 (1,200) | -53% | 3273 | 15.3 |
Jurassic World | Uni | 3.1 (2,510) | 228% | 1239 | 643.1 |
The Gift | STX/D Films | 3.1 (1,610) | -27% | 1934 | 35.9 |
Ant-Man | BV | 3.1 (1,820) | -20% | 1690 | 169.2 |
Minions | Uni | 2.9 (1,470) | -24% | 1976 | 324.8 |
American Ultra | Lionsgate/Elevation | 2.8 (1,020) | -48% | 2778 | 10.5 |
Fantastic Four | Fox | 1.8 (1,060) | -53% | 1675 | 52.7 |
We Are Your Friends | WB | 1.7 (740) | NEW | 2333 | 1.7 |
Ricki and the Flash | Sony | 1.7 (1,010) | -42% | 1716 | 23.5 |
Trainwreck | Uni | 1.7 (1,760) | -32% | 957 | 105.1 |
Vacation | WB | 1.6 (1,050) | -46% | 1555 | 54.9 |
Pixels | Sony | 1.5 (1,520) | -29% | 1005 | 71 |
Inside Out | BV | 1.4 (1,780) | -16% | 763 | 344.5 |
Shaun the Sheep | Lionsgate/Elevation | 1.1 (800) | -28% | 1358 | 16.3 |
Southpaw | Weinstein Co. | 0.7 (1,170) | -39% | 606 | 49.3 |
Mr. Holmes | Roadside Attractions | .43 (1,180) | -26% | 367 | 16.1 |
Mistress America | Fox Searchlight | .43 (2,880) | 85% | 150 | 0.91 |
The Love Affair | ABS | .42 (6,010) | -37% | 70 | 1.5 |
The Diary of a Teenage Girl | Sony Classics | .42 (520) | 144% | 795 | 0.92 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $81.80 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | -22% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -21% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Phoenix | IFC/Films We Like | .32 (2,190) | -3% | 144 | 1.5 |
The End of the Tour | A24 | .27 (1,060) | -51% | 256 | 2.2 |
Meru | Music Box | .26 (3,490) | 51% | 75 | 0.68 |
Grandma | Sony Classis | .30 (15,950) | 162% | 19 | 0.48 |
Phantom | UTV | .27 (2,890) | 93 | 0.27 | |
Le Mirage | Seville | .16 (2,450) | -12% | 67 | 2.1 |
Learning to Drive | Broad Green | .15 (6,610) | 130% | 23 | 0.24 |
Assassination | Well Go | .14 (6,710) | -35% | 21 | 1.5 |
Amy | A24/Mongrel | .10 (1,290) | -30% | 79 | 7.8 |
Irrational Man | Sony Classics | .10 (1,090) | -54% | 91 | 3.7 |
The Best of Enemies | Magnolia | 81,600 (1,410) | -27% | 58 | 0.66 |
Faraar | Video Palace | 78,200 (2,230) | 35 | 0.08 | |
Thani Oruvan | ATMUS | 72,600 (3,820) | 19 | 0.07 | |
Z for Zachariah | Roadside | 55,400 (1,910) | 29 | 0.05 | |
Unsullied | Dreamline | 51,700 (390) | 133 | 0.05 | |
Memories of the Sword | Well Go | 45,300 (2,260) | 20 | 0.04 | |
The Second Mother | Oscilloscope | 26,200 (6550) | 4 | 0.02 | |
Queen of Earth | IFC | 11,800 (5,900) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Zipper | Alchemy | 7,800 (520) | 15 | 0.01 | |
7 Chinese Brothers | Screen Media | 6,500 (2,170) | 3 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (January 1 – August 27, 2015) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
Universal (16) | 2120.4 | 28.10% | |||
Buena Vista (12) | 1417.9 | 18.80% | |||
Warner Bros. (22) | 1238.4 | 16.40% | |||
20th Century Fox (17) | 759.6 | 10.10% | |||
Paramount (9) | 528.5 | 7.00% | |||
Sony (10) | 312.2 | 4.10% | |||
Weinstein Co, (15) | 244.1 | 3.20% | |||
Lionsgate (12) | 235.7 | 3.10% | |||
Focus (10) | 93.5 | 1.25% | |||
Fox Searchlight (7) | 93.4 | 1.25% | |||
Relativity (6) | 71.7 | 0.95% | |||
Sony Classics (18) | 50.4 | 0.70% | |||
A24 (7) | 45.4 | 0.60% | |||
Open Road (5) | 39.4 | 0.50% | |||
CBS (1) | 34.1 | 0.45% | |||
Other * (246) | 267.3 | 3.50% | |||
7552 | 100% | ||||
* none greater than 0.4% | |||||
Top Limited Releases (January 1 – August 27, 2015) | |||||
Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
Mr. Holmes | Roadside Attractions | 15,652,951 | |||
Love & Mercy | Roadside Attract/eOne | 12,435,083 | |||
Baahubali | Blue Sky | 9,279,014 | |||
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F | FUNimation | 8,369,893 | |||
Bajrangi Bhaijaan | Eros | 8,103,427 | |||
Amy | A24/Mongrel | 7,745,725 | |||
While We’re Young | A24/Elevation | 7,590,951 | |||
Whiplash * | Sony Classics | 7,543,077 | |||
I’ll See You in My Dreams | Bleecker St/Elevation | 7,408,635 | |||
Inherent Vice * | WB | 7,025,247 | |||
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Fox Searchlight | 6,730,093 | |||
Danny Collins | Bleecker Street/Elevation | 5,649,253 | |||
Foxcatcher * | Sony Classics | 5,399,596 | |||
True Story | Fox Searchlight | 4,719,695 | |||
The Water Diviner | WB/eOne | 4,209,762 | |||
What We Do in the Shadows | Paladin/VSC | 3,737,681 | |||
A La Mala | Lionsgate | 3,661,925 | |||
Spare Parts | Lionsgate | 3,645,983 | |||
Irrational Man | Sony Classics | 3,615,476 | |||
Mr. Turner * | Sony Classics | 3,524,452 | |||
* does not include 2014 box office |