By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
To no great surprise, the debut of the conclusion of The Hunger Games franchise Mockingjay–Part 2 dominated weekend moviegoing with an estimated $101.4 million. It was poor seconds for the session’s other wide release launches. Stoner comedy The Night Before toked fourth position with $9.8 million while the distaff Death Wish of The Secret in Their Eyes revealed a modest $6.6 million.
One might argue that the pole position belonged to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with studio reports circulating that opening day of advance tickets for the December 15 release generated $50 million in sales.
Exclusives saw a solid $82,800 launch of cosh-swinging London gangsterism in Legend at four locales, and a potent $246,000 for Eisenhower-era forbidden love story Carol also debuting on four.
In the niches, a couple of new titles from India bowed with Telugu Kumari 21F registering a faint pulse of $173,000. Chinese imports included a strong bow of $182,000 for Taiwanese Our Times and fair returns of $55,100 for Journey Through Time with Anthony.
Spotlight added 538 playdates effectively and slow rollouts for Brooklyn and Trumbo continued well. Demanding drama Room was on the shaky side.
Overall revenues for the frame topped $170 million for a jaunty 60% uptick from last weekend. It was nonetheless a 13% retreat from 2014 when Part 1 of Mockingjay led with a $121.9 million opener.
Tracking anticipated a slightly stronger opening for The Hunger Game finale in the $115-$120 million range. Bolstered by possibly the best reviews of the series and fan investment it seemed virtually inevitable. There was some speculation that the Star Wars’ presales may have eaten into its full potential but the singularity of the event makes comparisons impossible. Studio exit demos identified the weekend crowd as 56% female with half the audience aged 25-years and older. Mockingjay 2 opened day-and-date in 87 international territories to an estimated $145 million. The UK grosses of $17 million. and initial numbers in China add up to roughly $16.4 million.
Industry tracking was off the mark for The Night Before, expected to be second in the lineup with a figure in the mid-teens. It had a 50/50 gender split with a surprising 52% under 25-year crowd for an R-rated comedy that suggests a tamer version might have made for a more commercially potent family film.
The star-driven The Secret in Their Eyes performed as anticipated and while exit demos weren’t available at deadline it wouldn’t be surprising if it skewed to an older female audience.
| Weekend (estimates) November 20 – 22, 2015 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| THG: Mockingjay – Part 2 | Lionsgate | 101.4 (24,290) | NEW | 4175 | 101.4 |
| Spectre | Sony | 14.6 (3,980) | -57% | 3659 | 153.7 |
| The Peanuts Movie | Fox | 12.7 (3,460) | -47% | 3671 | 98.9 |
| The Night Before | Sony | 9.8 (3,320) | NEW | 2960 | 9.8 |
| The Secret in Their Eyes | STX | 6.6 (2,760) | NEW | 2392 | 6.6 |
| Love the Coopers | CBS/eOne | 3.9 (1,510) | -53% | 2603 | 14.9 |
| The Martian | Fox | 3.7 (1,760) | -45% | 2086 | 213 |
| Spotlight | Open Road/eOne | 3.5 (5,880) | 158% | 598 | 5.8 |
| The 33 | WB | 2.2 (890) | -61% | 2452 | 9.8 |
| Bridge of Spies | BV | 1.8 (1,200) | -57% | 1532 | 65.1 |
| Goosebumps | Sony | 1.7 (950) | -64% | 1787 | 75.9 |
| Brooklyn | Searchlight | 1.1 (10,270) | 137% | 111 | 2.2 |
| Hotel Transylvania | Sony | .76 (920) | -67% | 828 | 166.4 |
| Prem Ratan Dhan Payo | Fox Intl | .63 (2,230) | -74% | 283 | 4 |
| La Guerre des tuques | Seville | .55 (7,140) | -5% | 77 | 1.4 |
| Suffragette | Focus | .51 (980) | -51% | 517 | 3.6 |
| The Intern | WB | .41 (790) | -66% | 514 | 74.2 |
| The Last Witch Hunter | Lionsgate | .39 (630) | -74% | 624 | 26.9 |
| My All American | Aviron | .37 (280) | -73% | 1314 | 2.2 |
| Room | A24 | .36 (2,270) | -36% | 160 | 2.9 |
| Pan | WB | .33 (910) | -11% | 363 | 34 |
| Sicario | Lionsgate | .27 (950) | -64% | 285 | 45.8 |
| Trumbo | Bleecker Street | .25 (5,380) | 61% | 47 | 0.58 |
| Carol | Weinstein Co. | .25 (61,520) | NEW | 4 | 0.25 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $165.45 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -13% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 60% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| By the Sea | Uni | .18 (1,450) | 91% | 126 | 0.31 |
| Our Times | Media Asia | .18 (7,010) | 26 | 0.18 | |
| Kumari 21F | Creative | .17 (2,110) | 82 | 0.17 | |
| Legend | Uni | 82,800 (20,700) | 4 | 0.08 | |
| Journey Through Time with Anthony | China Lion | 55,100 (3,440) | 16 | 0.06 | |
| Truth | Sony Classics | 44,300 (700) | -71% | 63 | 2.4 |
| Cheekati Rajyam | ATMUS | 27,800 (630) | 44 | 0.03 | |
| Mustang | Cohen Media | 18,500 (6,170) | 3 | 0.02 | |
| Les Etres chers | Seville | 16,300 (1,630) | 10 | 0.02 | |
| Criminal Activities | Image Ent. | 11,600 (640) | 18 | 0.01 | |
| Mediterranea | IFC | 5,700 (2,850) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – November 19, 2015) * | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| Universal (22) | 2352.8 | 25.00% | |||
| Buena Vista (13) | 1509.7 | 16.00% | |||
| Warner Bros. (28) | 1451.2 | 15.40% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (20) | 1153.3 | 12.20% | |||
| Sony (17) | 839.2 | 8.90% | |||
| Paramount (12) | 586.7 | 6.20% | |||
| Lionsgate (20) | 345.7 | 3.70% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (17) | 284.4 | 3.00% | |||
| Focus (12) | 117.6 | 1.30% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (9) | 99.1 | 1.10% | |||
| Relativity/Europa (7) | 86 | 0.90% | |||
| Sony Classics (21) | 62.1 | 0.65% | |||
| A24 (9) | 48.9 | 0.50% | |||
| Open Road (7) | 45.4 | 0.50% | |||
| CBS (2) | 44.1 | 0.45% | |||
| Other * (350) | 399.8 | 4.20% | |||
| 9426 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.4% | |||||
