The Weekend Report

The Girl on the Train was first to arrive at the station with an estimated $24.6 million fare. The session featured two other national newcomers. The controversial historical drama The Birth of a Nation opened in sixth with $7 million. Teen comedy Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life was a jot behind at $6.8 million.

Overall revenues for the frame edged close to $105 million and took a 10% dip from last weekend. It was a 14% decline, again, from 2015 when the second weekend of The Martian led with $37 million and the top newcomer was Pan with $15.3 million.

The adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ London-set novel The Girl on the Train was tracking well ahead of the pack with expectations of a mid- to high 20s debut. Studio exit demos identified the audience as 68% female with 55% over 30. The 18-34 core amounted for 58% of viewers. The Girl on the Train opened in an additional six Universal territories to an estimated $1.2 million. Information on non-Universal markets was not available.

In the niches, a spate of Indian imports arrived, including Telugu Premam with a sturdy $508,000. Less impressive were the $172,000 bow of Tamil Remo and a grim $53,700 for the Hindi Mirzya. The American indie Voiceless had an okay $271,000 gross at 99 speaking engagements. Among exclusive freshmen, the most intriguing entry was Dominican cop comedy Dos Policias en Apuros (Two Cops In Trouble), grossing $38,600 from 12 screens.

Following its Sundance 2016 debut and its grand jury prize and audience award for American dramatic features, expectations for Oscars and box office were high for The Birth of a Nation. Scrutiny of the filmmakers’ personal history tamped down initial response with pundits setting a $7-$8 million bar to clear. Balancing the film’s merits against protest seems to be a tricky balancing act for the distrib.

The Birth of a Nation played strongest to African-American and arthouse crowds, but came up short at crossing over to other quadrants, unlike the $56 million-grossing 12 Years a Slave. The audience was 51% African American and 40% Caucasian with a slight female tilt of 53%. Roughly 60% was over 25.

Targeted at the Wimpy Kid crowd Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, based upon the James Patterson YA series, the audience was evenly split between the sexes with 54% of viewers aged 18-years and younger. Family specific data was not provided but 42% of the crowd was aged over 25.

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