By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Zootopia posted an estimated $50.9 million, remaining king of the kino kingdom. 10 Cloverfield Lane held captive a solid $25.3 million but three other national openers took it on the chin. Romcom The Perfect Match took a passable $4.2 million gross but neither inspirational The Young Messiah and broad comic The Brothers Grimsby showed commercial pulse at $3.3 million and $3.1 million, respectively.
Best of the range of exclusive newcomers were political thriller Eye in the Sky with $113,000 from five secret sites, the mature romance Hello, My Name is Doris registering $87,200 from four locations and foodie fave City of Gold biting into $57,300 at four cineraunts. In the niches, two Punjabi releases had potent bows. Love Punjab opened with $378,000 at 37 venues and Ardaas grossed $262,000 from 35 screens.
Weekend revenues generated roughly $135 million and slipped 17% from seven days prior. It was a marginal 2% improvement from 2015, when openings of Cinderella and Run All Night led with $67.9 million and $11 million.
Not strictly tied to 2008’s Cloverfield, 10 Cloverfield Lane shares a classic horror-terror reveal with the earlier film. The modest production effectively went for the big shock and captured an audience 61% male with 68% of viewers aged 25-years and older. The film had been tracking in the low 20s but Thursday previews of $1.8 million suggested larger than anticipated interest.
The rest of the field displayed limited interest via tracking but nonetheless under-performed even to modest hopes. Of the poor seconds, The Perfect Match at least had an identifiable core with African Americans and the most decidedly female audience with 66% of viewers. Its crowd was also 80% aged 25-years and older.
The Young Messiah proved no pre-Easter treat as it assayed the youth of Jesus. It was perhaps too close on the heels of Risen to resurrect viewers, and appeared headed for a top-end result of $2.5 million. Its audience tilted 56% female with 86% aged 25-years and older.
A far cry from the universal pandemonium of Borat or Bruno, The Brothers Grimsby proved too Brit-centric to cross the pond. We’d still like to see Sacha as Freddie Mercury, but those other diehards profiled as 60% male and 61% aged 25-years and older.
Domestic revenues passed the $2 billion plateau Sunday, remarkably, a four day faster pace than 2015.
| Weekend (estimates) March 11 – 13, 2016) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| Zootopia | BV | 50.9 (13,300) | -32% | 3827 | 143.5 |
| 10 Cloverfield Lane | Pan | 25.3 (7,460) | NEW | 3391 | 25.3 |
| Deadpool | Fox | 10.8 (3,230) | -36% | 3331 | 328 |
| London Has Fallen | Focus/VVS | 10.6 (3,030) | -51% | 3492 | 38.8 |
| Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Par | 4.6 (1,890) | -39% | 2413 | 14.5 |
| The Perfect Match | Lionsgate | 4.2 (4,550) | NEW | 925 | 4.2 |
| The Young Messiah | Focus | 3.3 (1,890) | NEW | 1761 | 3.3 |
| The Brothers Grimsby | Sony | 3.1 (1,390) | NEW | 2235 | 3.1 |
| Gods of Egypt | Lionsgate | 2.5 (1,090) | -51% | 2306 | 27.3 |
| Risen | Sony | 2.2 (1,060) | -43% | 2095 | 32.4 |
| The Revenant | Fox | 2.0 (1,530) | -42% | 1303 | 179.1 |
| Kung Fu Panda 3 | Fox | 1.6 (980) | -55% | 1650 | 136.4 |
| Eddie the Eagle | Fox | 1.5 (980) | -51% | 1568 | 13.5 |
| Star Wars: The Force Awakens | BV | 1.2 (1,620) | -34% | 760 | 930.7 |
| The Witch | A24/Elevation | .95 (1,010) | -62% | 945 | 22.9 |
| How to Be Single | WB | .93 (1,210) | -56% | 767 | 45.1 |
| Spotlight | Open Road/eOne | .90 (1,060) | -49% | 847 | 43.2 |
| Race | Focus | .71 (1,030) | -53% | 689 | 17.8 |
| The Other Side of the Door | Fox | .58 (990) | -52% | 585 | 2.2 |
| The Lady in the Van | Sony Classics | .53 (1,470) | -26% | 363 | 8 |
| Triple 9 | Open Road/Elevation | .50 (720) | -78% | 695 | 11.9 |
| Ride Along 2 | Uni | .40 (1,100) | -43% | 368 | 90.1 |
| Love Punjab | White Hill | .38 (10,220) | NEW | 37 | 0.38 |
| Hail, Caesar! | Uni | .30 (1,170) | -31% | 255 | 29.7 |
| The Big Short | Par | .29 (1,320) | -42% | 222 | 69.8 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $128.90 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | 2% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -17% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Ardaas | Hot Ice | .26 (7,480) | 35 | 0.26 | |
| Brooklyn | Fox Searchlight/Mongrel | 2.4 (1,080) | -36% | 225 | 37.6 |
| Le Petit prince | Seville | .19 (1,220) | 353% | 157 | 0.8 |
| Embrace of the Serpent | Oscillosope/Raven | .18 (2,360) | 148% | 77 | 0.54 |
| Room | 424/Elevation | .15 (760) | -67% | 201 | 14.5 |
| Eye in the Sky | Bleecker Street | .11 (22,680) | 5 | 0.11 | |
| Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum | Praneeth | .10 (2,190) | 47 | 0.1 | |
| Knight of Cups | Broad Green | 92,600 (2,570) | 53% | 36 | 0.18 |
| Hello, My Name is Doris | Roadside Attractions | 87,200 (20,900) | 4 | 0.09 | |
| Les Herbes mauvaises | Seville | 73,700 (2,630) | 28 | 0.07 | |
| Son of Saul | Sony Classics | 71,400 (680) | -53% | 105 | 1.7 |
| City of Gold | IFC | 57,300 (19,320) | 4 | 0.06 | |
| L’Hermine | A-Z Films | 48,400 (4,400) | 11 | 0.05 | |
| Singing with Angels | Candlelight | 38,200 (1,410) | 27 | 0.04 | |
| Born to Be Blue | eOne | 30,100 (15,050) | 2 | 0.03 | |
| Sweet 20 | CJ | 23,500 (5,870) | 4 | 0.02 | |
| Marguerite | Cohen Media | 19,600 (6,530) | 3 | 0.02 | |
| Remember | A24 | 18,900 (9,450) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Tuntari | Garam | 13,700 (440) | 31 | 0.01 | |
| Creative Control | Magnolia | 7,300 (2,430) | 3 | 0.01 | |
| Boom Bust Boom | Brainstorm | 3,500 (3,500) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Lolo | FilmRise | 2,820 (2,820) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 1 – March 10, 2016) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
| 20th Century Fox (10) | 704.5 | 33.70% | |||
| Buena Vista (5) | 410.7 | 19.60% | |||
| Paramount (7) | 225.2 | 10.80% | |||
| Universal (5) | 158.5 | 7.60% | |||
| Lionsgate (8) | 106.3 | 5.10% | |||
| Sony (9) | 99.1 | 4.70% | |||
| Focus (4) | 75.7 | 3.60% | |||
| Warner Bros. (6) | 70.7 | 3.40% | |||
| Weinstein Co. (6) | 51.1 | 2.40% | |||
| Open Road (3) | 36.8 | 1.80% | |||
| STX (2) | 33.4 | 1.60% | |||
| A24 (2) | 28.9 | 1.40% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (2) | 14.6 | 0.70% | |||
| Other * (86) | 74.9 | 3.60% | |||
| 1878.5 | 100% | ||||
“Urban romcom The Perfect Match took a passable $4.2 million”
It’s okay (and really, it’s time) to just say “African-American romcom” instead of “urban romcom”. If this story and cast were set entirely in Martha’s Vineyard, it would still get labeled “urban”, and it would be just a arbitrary and ridiculous.
[Ray Pride edit: that phrase should have been retired: it’s dated shorthand.]