By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Po was on the go as Kung Fu Panda 3 led session moviegoing with an estimated $40.6 million debut. Three other national openers struggled to get a marketplace hold. The true life heroism of The Finest Hours slotted fourth with $10.2 million while spoofy Fifty Shades of Black entered the scene with $5.9 million. Belated, entangled western Jane Got a Gun barely registered with $790,000.
No exclusive freshmen registered significant punch. The clutch of Oscar contenders saw their theater counts diminish, but per screens for the Brooklyn, Room, The Big Short and Spotlight nonetheless improved.
In the niches the frame’s Indian imports all went flat while the Filipino rom-com Everything About Her had a solid opening of $244,000. The annual program of Oscar nominated short subjects was also off to a potent start with a $563,000 tally from 141 locations.
Revenues for the three days climbed to roughly $135 million for a jaunty 18% uptick from the prior weekend. It was a 35% improvement from 2015 when the sixth weekend of American Sniper dominated with $30.7 million and newcomer Project Almanac took second with $8.3 million.
The third installment of Kung Fu Panda was also the first for Fox domestically as DreamWorks Animation’s contract with Paramount lapsed. Tracking had predicted a stronger launch in the $45-$50 million range.
Panda opened a week earlier in China and added four international territories this weekend that’s boosted its foreign take to $75 million in 10 days. The domestic audience was 51% male with 54% of viewers aged 25-years and younger per studio exits. Some 70% of viewers were identified as families.
Expectations weren’t high for The Finest Hours based on an 1950s era rescue at sea drama despite a full-bore ad campaign and 3D and large-format complement. As with the recent In the Heart of the Sea it may find more favorable response overseas where the latter has grossed more than $70 million. Eyes for the opening weekend were 53% male and 72% aged 25-years and older.
Fifty Shades of Black appeared to be about 50 weeks late to the potential joke of its inspiration. Anticipation was that it had an excellent shot at a $10 million launch.
And Jane Got a Gun was just un-holstered from the start when original director Lynne Ramsay clashed with producers and opted not to show for the first day of filming. It didn’t help that the cash flow at Relativity dried up and it became one of the company’s selloffs to keep the doors open. Ultimately the Weinstein Co. release fired blanks.
| Weekend (estimates) January 29 – 31, 2016 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
| Kung Fu Panda 3 | Fox | 40.6 (10,260) | NEW | 3955 | 40.6 |
| The Revenant | Fox | 12.2 (3,670) | -24% | 3330 | 138 |
| Star Wars: The Force Awakens | BV | 10.6 (4,160) | -24% | 2556 | 895.2 |
| The Finest Hours | BV | 10.2 (3,250) | NEW | 3143 | 10.2 |
| Ride Along 2 | Uni | 8.3 (3,450) | -33% | 2412 | 70.8 |
| The Boy | STX/eOne | 7.6 (2,850) | -29% | 2671 | 21.2 |
| Dirty Grandpa | Lionsgate/VVS | 7.4 (2,530) | -30% | 2912 | 22.6 |
| The 5th Wave | Sony | 6.9 (2,380) | -33% | 2908 | 20.1 |
| 13 Hours: Secret Soldiers of Benghazi | Par | 6.0 (2,130) | -34% | 2803 | 42.5 |
| Fifty Shades of Black | Open Road | 5.9 (2,830) | NEW | 2075 | 5.9 |
| Daddy’s Home | Par | 3.0 (1,750) | -39% | 1718 | 143 |
| The Big Short | Par | 2.9 (2,980) | -8% | 983 | 60.8 |
| Brooklyn | Fox Searchlight/Mongrel | 1.7 (2,260) | -2% | 748 | 30.4 |
| Room | 424/Elevation | 1.1 (1,420) | -15% | 795 | 9.8 |
| Spotlight | Open Road/eOne | 1.1 (1,520) | -14% | 715 | 34.7 |
| Norm of the North | Lionsgate | .92 (610) | -76% | 1506 | 15.9 |
| Jane Got a Gun | Weinstein Co. | .79 (650) | NEW | 1210 | 0.79 |
| The Hateful Eight | Weinstein Co. | .66 (1,310) | -52% | 505 | 52.3 |
| Sisters | Uni | .65 (1,230) | -63% | 529 | 86.1 |
| Airlift | B4U | .59 (4,850) | -33% | 122 | 1.8 |
| 2016 Oscar Shorts | Magnolia | .56 (3,990) | NEW | 141 | 0.56 |
| Joy | Fox | .54 (1,210) | -53% | 447 | 55.3 |
| Ip Man 3 | Well Go | .49 (4,420) | -37% | 111 | 1.6 |
| The Forest | Focus | .47 (880) | -72% | 532 | 26 |
| 45 Years | IFC/Mongrel | .46 (4,950) | 188% | 97 | 1.3 |
| Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip | Fox | .43 (940) | -61% | 453 | 83.2 |
| Carol | Weinstein Co. | .42 (1,340) | -35% | 313 | 11.4 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $130.70 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 35% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | 18% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Anomalisa | Par | .34 (2,030) | -6% | 169 | 1.9 |
| The Lady in the Van | Sony Classics | .31 (6,240) | 78% | 50 | 0.73 |
| Everything About Her | ABS | .24 (4,130) | 59 | 0.24 | |
| The Danish Girl | Focus | .24 (1,070) | -55% | 224 | 10.3 |
| Son of Saul | Sony Classics | .16 (2,860) | 71% | 55 | 0.71 |
| Lazer Team | Youtube | 97,500 (4,060) | 24 | 0.1 | |
| Mustang | Cohen/Mongrel | 92,400 (2,570) | 83% | 36 | 0.55 |
| Saala Khados | UTV | 72,000 (1,040) | 69 | 0.07 | |
| Trumbo | Bleecker Street | 65,800 (840) | -30% | 78 | 7.6 |
| Irudhi Suttru | ATMUS | 63,200 (1,710) | 37 | 0.06 | |
| Youth | Fox Searchlight | 51,300 (1,190) | -37% | 43 | 2.5 |
| Mastizaade | Eros | 27,300 (590) | 46 | 0.03 | |
| Paavada | PJ | 19,700 (2,810) | 7 | 0.02 | |
| Aranmanai 2 | Praneeth | 15,100 (890) | 17 | 0.02 | |
| Seethamma Andaku Ramayya Sitta | Cinemas24 | 11,200 ((250) | 44 | 0.01 | |
| Rabin, the Last Day | Kino | 5,600 (5,600) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Babysitting 2 | A-Z Films | 4,700 (470) | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Everybody’s Fine | Cheng Cheng | 4,300 (860) | 5 | 0.01 |
