By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
There was never any doubt that the redoubtable 007 would lead the fall charge… just how much SPECTRE would exact. Sunday estimates pegged it at $72.4 million. Nonetheless there was sufficient room in the marketplace for a counter-programmer and The Peanuts Movie proved apt with a buoyant $44.5 million debut.
A lot of new product looked to get an effective toehold. The friendship and mortality saga Miss You Already got beached in a limited wide opening with a $550,000 tally. The big match-up was three exclusives, each opening on five screens. Spotlight focused on a historical Boston Globe investigation into clerical pedophilia; Brooklyn chronicled a young Irish woman’s immigration tale in 1960s America; and Trumbo detailed Hollywood’s 1950s dark blacklist era. Respectively they grossed $297,000, $179,000 and $76,800. The results ranged from great to respectable with each getting the sort of Friday to Saturday bumps that suggest strong positive word of mouth.
Room and Suffragette continued slow rollouts that maintained initial momentum.
Following last weekend’s attendance debacle, moviegoing surged to revenues of roughly $165 million that translated into a 133% improvement. It was also 6% better than the 2014 frame when the debuts of Big Hero 6 and Interstellar arrived with $56.2 million and $47.5 million, respectively.
The movie’s longest and most resilient franchise staved off doom in a fashion fitting of its protagonist. While critical response was generally shaken but not stirred for SPECTRE, this installment already set new box office records overseas last week in a mere six territories with a $43.5 million weekend gross that ranked it numero uno.
This weekend international added 66 foreign climes and generated more than $120 million according to estimates. Domestically the film hit a bullseye with its core audience attracting a 62% male throng with 75% of buyers aged 25-years and older. The next installment is sure to arrive in cinemas November 2018.
Another indelible icon pitted itself against Bond in the form of one Charlie Brown and The Peanuts Movie. Anticipation was strong and exceeded expectations of a high 30s launch. While the comic strip exposure has diminished since creator Charles Schulz’s death in 2000, Peanuts and its residents have maintained a rarified appeal in popular culture via merchandizing and promotion. Opening weekend audiences tilted 55% female with 54% of the crowd aged 25-years and older. Roughly 70% of viewers were identified as families and 28% opted for the stereoscopic version.
| Weekend (estimates) November 6 – 8, 2015 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| SPECTRE | Sony | 72.4 (18,440) | NEW | 3929 | 72.4 |
| The Peanuts Movie | Fox | 44.5 (11,420) | NEW | 3897 | 44.5 |
| The Martian | Fox | 9.2 (3,240) | -21% | 2855 | 197 |
| Goosebumps | Sony | 7.0 (2,300) | -29% | 3051 | 66.5 |
| Bridge of Spies | BV | 6.1 (2,190) | -28% | 2767 | 55 |
| Hotel Transylvania | Sony | 3.5 (1,550) | -40% | 2274 | 161.3 |
| Burnt | Weinstein | 2.9 (970) | -41% | 3003 | 10.1 |
| The Last Witch Hunter | Lionsgate | 2.6 (1,150) | -49% | 2286 | 23.5 |
| The Intern | WB | 1.8 (1,700) | -24% | 1071 | 71.4 |
| Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension | Par | 1.6 (1,510) | -52% | 1087 | 16.3 |
| Our Brand is Crisis | WB | 1.4 (700) | -56% | 2202 | 5.9 |
| Crimson Peak | Uni | 1.2 (1,030) | -63% | 1131 | 29.8 |
| Woodlawn | Pure Flix | 1.1 (1,240) | -34% | 922 | 12.5 |
| Sicario | Lionsgate | 1.1 (1,500) | -37% | 722 | 44 |
| Steve Jobs | Uni | .82 (1,950) | -69% | 421 | 16.7 |
| Suffragette | Focus | .77 (3,460) | 350% | 222 | 1.1 |
| Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse | Par | .62 (540) | -67% | 1151 | 3.1 |
| Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Fox | .59 (1,340) | -27% | 441 | 79.8 |
| Pan | WB | .57 (1,120) | -53% | 508 | 32.9 |
| Miss You Already | Roadside | .55 (1,430) | NEW | 384 | 0.55 |
| Room | A24 | .49 (5,610) | 67% | 87 | 1.4 |
| Truth | Sony Classics | .39 (710) | -55% | 554 | 2 |
| Spotlight | Open Road | .30 (59,480) | NEW | 5 | 0.3 |
| Everest | Uni | .24 (1,080) | -31% | 225 | 42.8 |
| The Visit | Uni | .23 (860) | -37% | 270 | 64.7 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $160.80 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 6% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 133% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Brooklyn | Searchlight | .18 (3,5840) | 5 | 0.18 | |
| The Man in 3B | FreeStyle | .10 (2,950) | 35 | 0.1 | |
| The Witness | China Lion | .10 (2,810) | -50% | 35 | 0.37 |
| Ex-Files 2: The Backup Strikes | Media Asia | 94,600 (5,910) | 16 | 0.09 | |
| Trumbo | Bleecker Street | 76,800 (15,360) | 5 | 0.08 | |
| Meet the Patels | Alchemy | 76,100 (1,150) | -7% | 66 | 1.6 |
| The Assassin | Well Go | 72,900 (1,700) | -28% | 43 | 0.4 |
| Labyrinth of Lies | Sony Classics | 54,600 (1,240) | -18% | 44 | 0.53 |
| Love | Alchemy | 50,300 (2,190) | 72% | 23 | 0.12 |
| In Jackson Heights | Zipporah | 12,600 (12,600) | 1 | 0.02 | |
| Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict | Submarine | 10,800 (10,800) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Le Garagiste | TVA | 10,500 (880) | 12 | 0.01 | |
| Theeb | Film Movement | 8,900 (2,970) | 3 | 0.01 | |
| What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy | Oscilloscope | 6,400 (3,200) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Sembene! | Kino | 4,300 (4,300) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – November 5, 2015) * | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Universal (21) | 2346.6 | 25.90% | |||
| Buena Vista (13) | 1494.4 | 16.50% | |||
| Warner Bros. (27) | 1435.2 | 15.90% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (19) | 1044.2 | 11.50% | |||
| Sony (17) | 680.7 | 7.50% | |||
| Paramount (12) | 581.9 | 6.40% | |||
| Lionsgate (19) | 321.4 | 3.60% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (17) | 278.3 | 3.10% | |||
| Focus (12) | 114.9 | 1.30% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (9) | 97.9 | 1.10% | |||
| Relativity/Europa (7) | 86 | 0.95% | |||
| Sony Classics (21) | 61.1 | 0.70% | |||
| A24 (9) | 47.9 | 0.50% | |||
| Open Road (6) | 42.9 | 0.45% | |||
| STX (1) | 40.2 | 0.45% | |||
| Other * (331) | 377.4 | 4.15% | |||
| 9051 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% | |||||
| Top Domestic Grossers (January 1 – October 29, 2015) * | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
| Mr. Holmes | Roadside Attractions | 17,737,636 | |||
| Love & Mercy | Roadside Attract/eOne | 12,556,192 | |||
| Baahubali | Blue Sky | 9,329,136 | |||
| Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos | Lionsgate | 9,080,818 | |||
| Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F | FUNimation | 8,369,893 | |||
| Amy | A24/Mongrel | 8,371,855 | |||
| Bajrangi Bhaijaan | Eros | 8,185,833 | |||
| 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 | 7,449,681 | |||
| Inherent Vice * | WB | 7,025,247 | |||
| Grandma | Sony Classics | 6,762,325 | |||
| Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Fox Searchlight | 6,758,416 | |||
| Danny Collins | Bleecker Street/Elevation | 5,649,253 | |||
| Foxcatcher * | Sony Classics | 5,399,596 | |||
| 90 Minutes in Heaven | IDP | 4,842,699 | |||
| True Story | Fox Searchlight | 4,719,695 | |||
| The Water Diviner | WB/eOne | 4,209,762 | |||
| Irrational Man | Sony Classics | 4,030,360 | |||
| What We Do in the Shadows | Paladin/VSC | 3,752,417 | |||
| * does not include 2014 box office | |||||
