By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 made it four in a row at the top of the weekend box office with an estimated $11.2 million. The session’s sole incoming national newcomer, historical whaling saga In the Heart of the Sea, was just behind with $10.9 million with just $1.1 million separating the top four movies in the marketplace.
Exclusive freshmen met tepid response with the exception of awards contender The Big Short, bowing to a potent $713,000 from eight swaps. In the niches the Telugu Bengal Tiger struggled to a $206,000 debut while South Korean Inside Men dipped into warm waters with a $23,600 gross from two screens.
In another grim moviegoing frame, revenues barely exceeded $75 million and box office sank by 24% from seven days back. It was also 10% less than the 2014 session when the launch of Exodus: Gods and Kings led with $24.1 million. The domestic box office passed the $10 billion benchmark this week and the 2015 pace remains a slim 4% ahead of last year.
There was a bygone quality to In the Heart of the Sea that did not click with modern audiences. The historic tragedy of the nineteenth century whaling ship Essex (a reported inspiration for Melville’s “Moby Dick”) wasn’t tracking well, although estimates of $12-14 million tagged it a likely weekend leader. The film opened a week ago in 36 overseas markets to a spotty response of $18 million that left an unease for its domestic launch and the likelihood of major writedown. Studio exit demos showed a slight 54% male tilt with 68% of the audience aged 35-years and older.
With announcements of SAG and Golden Globe nomination slates this week, pundits eyeing box office to determine momentum. With most holdovers slipping a third to a half and most hopefuls unable to expand, Spotlight, Brooklyn, Trumbo, Carol and The Danish Girl stayed steady.
It also provided an eye-popping opening for the satiric take on 2008’s financial meltdown, triggered by housing loans, ably etched in The Big Short. Exit demos tagged the crowd at 53% female with 56% of viewers aged 35-years old and older.
At Christmas, releases of Joy, The Hateful Eight and The Revenant will get close scrutiny. And next week’s opening of the still-unseen Star Wars: The Force Awakens (until now not deemed award-worthy) might shake the holiday tree.
Weekend (estimates) December 11 – 13, 2015 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 | Lionsgate | 11.2 (3,080) | -40% | 3651 | 244.4 |
In the Heart of the Sea | WB | 10.9 (3,520) | NEW | 3103 | 10.9 |
The Good Dinosaur | BV | 10.3 (2,860) | -33% | 3606 | 89.5 |
Creed | WB | 10.1 (2,880) | -33% | 3502 | 79.3 |
Krampus | Uni | 8.0 (2,730) | -51% | 2919 | 28.1 |
Spectre | Sony | 4.0 (1,510) | -28% | 2640 | 190.8 |
The Night Before | Sony | 3.9 (1,470) | -22% | 2674 | 38.2 |
The Peanuts Movie | Fox | 2.6 (990) | -27% | 2653 | 124.9 |
Spotlight | Open Road/eOne | 2.4 (2,220) | -14% | 1089 | 20.2 |
Brooklyn | FxSearch/Mongrel | 1.9 (2,060) | -20% | 947 | 14.3 |
The Martian | Fox | 1.4 (1,330) | -14% | 1041 | 222.8 |
Love the Coopers | CBS/eOne | 1.3 (830) | -12% | 1610 | 24.6 |
The Secret in Their Eyes | STX/eOne | 1.2 (720) | -37% | 1661 | 19.2 |
Trumbo | Bleecker Street | .81 (1,460) | -15% | 554 | 5.5 |
The Big Short | Par | .71 (89,120) | NEW | 8 | 0.71 |
Bridge of Spies | BV | .58 (1,070) | -15% | 540 | 69.4 |
Chi-Raq | Roadside Attractions | .55 (1,940) | -54% | 285 | 2.1 |
Carol | Weinstein Co. | .33 (20,810) | 130% | 16 | 1.2 |
The Letters | FreeStyle | .32 (410) | -43% | 779 | 1.4 |
Legend | Uni/Elevation | .30 (2,790) | 7% | 107 | 1.4 |
The Danish Girl | Focus | .25 (10,580) | 144% | 24 | 0.65 |
Macbeth | Weinstein Co. | .25 (2,330) | 260% | 108 | 0.35 |
Room | A24 | .24 (1,190) | 6% | 204 | 4.2 |
A Second Chance | ABS | .21 (2,660) | -59% | 80 | 1 |
Bengal Tiger | Supreme | .21 (1,860) | NEW | 111 | 0.29 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $71.85 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | -10% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -24% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
Youth | Fox Searchlight | .10 (5,940) | 29% | 17 | 0.21 |
Suffragette | Focus | .10 (840) | -35% | 166 | 4.5 |
Hitchcock/Truffaut | Cohen Media | 44,700 (2,480) | -56% | 18 | 0.1 |
Inside Men | CJ | 23,600 (12,800) | 2 | 0.02 | |
Yellow Day | Idyllic | 19,900 (9,950) | 2 | 0.02 | |
Don Verdean | Lionsgate | 10,400 (320) | 33 | 0.01 | |
The Boy and the World | Gkids | 6,500 (3,250) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Bleeding Heart | Gravitas | 5,300 (590) | 9 | 0.01 | |
The Girl in the World | FreeStyle | 4,900 (490) | 10 | 0.01 | |
La Derniere lecon | Axia | 4,200 (1,050) | 4 | 0.01 | |
Body | Oscilloscope | 3,900 (3,900) | 1 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (January 1 – December 10, 2015) * | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
Universal (24) | 2375.9 | 23.60% | |||
Buena Vista (14) | 1595.1 | 15.90% | |||
Warner Bros. (29) | 1526.9 | 15.20% | |||
20th Century Fox (21) | 1207.7 | 12.00% | |||
Sony (18) | 927.3 | 9.20% | |||
Paramount (12) | 586.9 | 5.80% | |||
Lionsgate (20) | 564.3 | 5.60% | |||
Weinstein Co. (19) | 285.8 | 2.80% | |||
Focus (13) | 119.4 | 1.20% | |||
Fox Searchlight (10) | 110.3 | 1.10% | |||
Relativity/Europa (7) | 86 | 0.90% | |||
Sony Classics (21) | 62.4 | 0.60% | |||
Open Road (7) | 59.6 | 0.60% | |||
STX (2) | 57.3 | 0.55% | |||
CBS (2) | 55.5 | 0.55% | |||
A24 (9) | 50.1 | 0.50% | |||
Other * (372) | 381.7 | 3.80% | |||
10052.2 | 100% | ||||
* none greater than 0.4% | |||||
Top Global Grossers (Jan. 1 – Dec. 10, 2015) * | |||||
Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
Jurrasic World | Uni | 1,670,256,236 | |||
Furious 7 | Uni | 1,515,406,318 | |||
Avengers: Age of Ultron | BV | 1,404,649,117 | |||
Minions | Uni | 1,157,463,774 | |||
Inside Out | BV | 855,055,987 | |||
Spectre | Sony; MGM | 800,439,066 | |||
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | Par | 682,138,894 | |||
The Martian | Fox | 577,694,811 | |||
Fifty Shades of Grey | Uni | 570,536,817 | |||
American Sniper | WB | 549,569,608 | |||
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 | Lionsgate | 540,581,673 | |||
Cinderella | BV | 542,013,849 | |||
Ant-Man | BV | 519,842,308 | |||
San Andreas | WB | 494,414,787 | |||
Hotel Transylvania 2 | Sony | 442,415,662 | |||
Terminator Ganysis | Par | 440,329,877 | |||
Kingsman: The Secret Service | Fox | 414,351,546 | |||
Monster Hunt | Edko | 395,654,235 | |||
Home | Fox; DmWks | 385,085,573 | |||
Mad Max: Fury Road | WB | 381,034,329 | |||
Taken 3 | Fox; Europa | 328,171,749 | |||
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies * | WB | 324,095,379 | |||
SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | Par | 320,764,088 | |||
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials | Fox | 315,194,283 | |||
Big Hero 6 * | BV | 307,976,246 | |||
* does not include 2014 box office |