By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Kong: Skull Island, the only nationwide opener, sounded the right chord with an estimated $61.1 million debut.
Exclusive newcomers were led by Cannes’ Personal Shopper with a $80,700 credit line at four boutiques, and Brit import The Sense of an Ending, which grossed $42,400 from four sites.
International day-and-date releases included Hindi Badrinath Ki Dulhania, with an excellent $844,000 while Telugu Nagaram sputtered with $21,500.
Also solid was Japanese anime Sword Art Online with a $247,000 tally following a weekday screening via Fathom. Less special was the $157,000 bow of the Turkish-Armenian war romance The Ottoman Lieutenant. In Canada, Inuit tale Iqaluit saw tepid response of $25,600 from 12 sites.
Revenues for the frame were about $165 million, a 13% dip from last weekend. It was 23% from 2016 when the second weekend of Zootopia led with $51.3 million followed by the $24.7 million debut of 10 Cloverfield Lane.
The original King Kong was just three feet six inches as the late Peter O’Toole’s character claimed in 1980’s The Stunt Man. Ahhh the magic of the movies. Subsequent revivals in 1976 and 2005 were hardly as magical. Time will determine whether this reboot lasts but it unquestionably exceeded industry expectations.
Industry tracking last week anticipated the monster at a hefty $42-$45 million range. But the drum beat grew into the $50 million level as opening day approached and EWOM provided an extra boost as the weekend progressed. Studio exit demos identified the domestic audience as 56% male with 65% of viewers 25 and older.
Internationally, Kong opened in 65 markets to an estimated $81 million. Top markets included a $7.6 million stomp in the UK, South Korea crushing $7.3 million and Russia at $6 million.
Weekend (estimates) March 10 – 12, 2017 | |||||
Title | Distributor | Gross (avg) | % chng | Thtrs | Cume |
Kong: Skull Island | WB | 61.1 (15,880) | NEW | 3846 | 61.1 |
Logan | Fox | 38.0 (9,340) | -57% | 4071 | 152.8 |
Get Out | Uni | 21.1 (6,700) | -25% | 3143 | 111 |
The Shack | Lionsgate | 9.8 (3,400) | -39% | 2888 | 32 |
The Lego Batman Movie | WB | 7.7 (2,340) | -34% | 3303 | 158.9 |
Before I Fall | Open Road | 3.0 (1,270) | -36% | 2346 | 8.9 |
Hidden Figures | Fox | 2.7 (1,930) | -28% | 1421 | 162.5 |
John Wick: Chapter 2 | Lionsgate | 2.7 (1,320) | -44% | 2031 | 87 |
La La Land | Lionsgate | 1.8 (1,120) | -41% | 1578 | 148.3 |
Fifty Shades Darker | Uni | 1.6 (1,070) | -55% | 1498 | 112.9 |
Lion | Weinstein Co. | 1.3 (1,370) | -38% | 960 | 48.5 |
Fist Fight | WB | 1.3 (1,010) | -55% | 1285 | 30.5 |
The Great Wall | Uni | 1.2 (770) | -41% | 1592 | 43.8 |
Split | Uni | 2.1 (1,860) | -42% | 981 | 135.8 |
A Dog’s Purpose | Uni | 1.1 (1,030) | -40% | 1022 | 61.8 |
Rock Dog | Lionsgate | 1.0 (750) | -44% | 1376 | 8.1 |
Moonlight | A24/Elevation | .93 (940) | -60% | 987 | 26.9 |
Table 19 | Searchlight | .86 (990) | -46% | 868 | 2.9 |
Badrinath Ki Dulhania | Fox Intl | .84 (5,550) | NEW | 152 | 0.84 |
Ballerina | Seville | .56 (2,370) | -4% | 237 | 2 |
A United Kingdom | Searchlight | .51 (1,600) | -20% | 317 | 2.5 |
Moana | BV | .43 (1,570) | -32% | 276 | 247.5 |
Sing | Uni | .41 (1,030) | 6% | 400 | 268.7 |
Kedi | Oscilloscope | .30 (2,900) | 26% | 103 | 1 |
I Am Not Your Negro | Magnolia | .28 (1,590) | -41% | 175 | 6.1 |
Sword Art Online | Eleven Arts | .25 (4,840) | NEW | 51 | 1.3 |
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $160.10 | ||||
% Change (Last Year) | 23% | ||||
% Change (Last Week) | -13% | ||||
Also debuting/expanding | |||||
The Salesman | Cohen/Elevation | .16 (1,560) | -35% | 105 | 2 |
The Ottoman Lieutenant | Paladin | .16 (730) | 216 | 0.16 | |
Personal Shopper | IFC | 80,700 (20,180) | 4 | 0.08 | |
The Last Word | Bleecker Street | 74,200 (2,970) | 134% | 25 | 0.11 |
Manchester By the Sea | Roadside/ Mongrel | 61,800 (550) | -76% | 113 | 47.5 |
Land of Mine | Sony Classics | 58,400 (1,460) | 56% | 40 | 0.18 |
My Life as a Zucchini | Gkids | 56,700 (1,090) | 33% | 52 | 0.18 |
The Sense of an Ending | CBS | 42,400 (10,600) | 4 | 0.04 | |
Toni Erdmann | Sony Classics | 40,300 (1,010) | -31% | 40 | 1.4 |
Iqaluit | eOne | 25,600 (2,130) | 12 | 0.03 | |
Raw | Focus | 25,200 (12,600) | 2 | 0.03 | |
Nagaram | CineGalaxy | 21,500 (1,430) | 15 | 0.02 | |
Heal the Living | Cohen Media | 12,300 (3,080) | 4 | 0.01 | |
My Scientology Movie | Magnolia | 10,100 (5,050) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Aby | Central | 7,600 (950) | 8 | 0.01 | |
Uncertain | Lucid | 6,400 (3,200) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Window Horses | Mongrel | 4,800 (2,400) | 2 | 0.01 | |
Domestic Market Share (January 2 – March 9, 2017) | |||||
Distributor (releases) | Box Office | Market Share | |||
Universal (8) | 541.4 | 27.50% | |||
20th Century Fox (9) | 326.5 | 16.60% | |||
Lionsgate (8) | 233.1 | 11.80% | |||
Warner Bros. (9) | 210.4 | 10.70% | |||
Paramount (9) | 152.6 | 7.70% | |||
Buena Vista (3) | 145.8 | 7.40% | |||
Sony (5) | 96.1 | 4.90% | |||
Weinstein Co. (3) | 58.4 | 3.00% | |||
CBS (1) | 31.2 | 1.60% | |||
STX (3) | 29 | 1.50% | |||
Open Road (3) | 28.3 | 1.40% | |||
A24 (2) | 17.3 | 0.90% | |||
Roadside Attractions (2) | 17.2 | 0.90% | |||
Fox Searchlight (3) | 10.9 | 0.55% | |||
Other * (69) | 70.5 | 3.55% | |||
1968.7 | 100% | ||||
* none greater than 0.45% | |||||
Top Domestic Grossers (January 2 – March 9, 2017) | |||||
Title | Distributor | Box Office | |||
Hidden Figures * | Fox | 157,775,561 | |||
The Lego Batman Movie | WB | 151,203,660 | |||
Split | Uni | 134,612,135 | |||
Logan | Fox | 114,866,229 | |||
La La Land * | Lionsgate | 112,406,976 | |||
Fifty Shades Darker | Uni | 111,293,235 | |||
Rogue One * | BV | 105,410,580 | |||
Sing * | Uni | 101,803,880 | |||
Get Out | Uni | 89,981,845 | |||
John Wick: Chapter 2 | Lionsgate | 84,723,211 | |||
A Dog’s Purpose | Uni | 60,700,015 | |||
xXx: Return of Xander Cage | Par | 44,754,113 | |||
The Great Wall | Uni | 42,571,085 | |||
Lion * | Weinstein Co. | 41,217,772 | |||
* does not include 2016 box office |