Some box office analysts were predicting this past week that "The Peanuts Movie" could overtake "Spectre" this weekend, because of middling reviews ("Spectre"), mixed word of mouth and the fact that audiences would be looking for lighter, more optimistic fare, in the wake of the Paris terrorist tragedy.
However James Bond stood resolute, and held on for the No.1 slot for the second week in a row; though it dropped some 49% from last week, with $35.4 million. But with $530 million worldwide to date, it’s safe to assume that no one is crying.
Meanwhile "The Peanuts Movie" came in second with $24.2 million.
But all of this will be moot next weekend when the the final "Hunger Games" film, "Mockingjay Part 2," opens. The first two films in the franchise opened with over $150 million, and "Mockingjay Part 1" opened last year with $121 million; so some are already saying that if "Part 2" opens with anything less than $120 million, it will considered a disappointment. Go figure.
Perhaps the more interesting news this weekend, will be what Warner Bros execs will be drinking to drown their sorrows on Monday, when they go over the results for "The 33." The film, based in on the true story of the Chilean miners who were trapped in an underground cave for over two months until they were rescued, opened with a measly million dollars.
With the exception of "The Intern," which has grossed $72 million to date here in the U.S, and $182 million worldwide, 8 out of Warners’ last 9 releases have been box office flops. Compare that with 2014 when the studio had a year-long streak of major and modest box office hits including "Godzilla," the "Lego Movie," "Annabelle," culminating with "American Sniper" which grosses $548 million worldwide, with $350 million of that from the U.S. alone.
But all studios go through rough patches. Next year, things could be very different, with Warners again on top of the box office food chain, and Paramount suffering though a really bad year. These things go in cycles.
However, it also will be interesting to see what effect the lackluster b.o. results of "The 33" will have on the film’s Mexican female director, Patricia Riggen. Especially considering that she has been very vocal of late about how white male directors are given more opportunities to direct films, even after past films they make flop. Meanwhile female directors become practically persona non grata when a film they make fails at the box office. Whether that will hold true for Riggens, we’ll have to wait and see.
The family Christmas film, "Love the Coopers," came in third, while "The Martian," "Bridge of Spies" and "Goosebumps" held fairly steady.
"Spotlight," the highly acclaimed drama about the Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, had the biggest per screen average, with almost $2 million grossed, on only 61 screens.
But even more interesting was that, once again, another Bollywood film, "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo," made the top ten list, coming in at 8th place, with the third highest per screen average on only 286 screens. How many of your had ever heard about the film before today? Yet, they definitely marketed it very successfully to the film’s target audience. Is there a similar model that more black filmmakers should be following? There’s Ava DuVernay with her distribution arm Array, but who else?
One thing for sure is that the film is very visual and colorful. Just check out the trailer below
1) Spectre Sony $35,400,000 Total: $130,700,181
2) The Peanuts Movie Fox $24,200,000 Total $82,489,856
3) Love the Coopers CBS $8,400,000
4) The Martian Fox $6,725,000 Total $207,407,616
5) The 33 WB $5,845,000
6) Goosebumps Sony $4,650,000 Total $73,487,390
7) Bridge of Spies BV $4,289,000 Total $61,695,554
8) Prem Ratan Dhan Payo FIP $2,400,000 Total $2,787,433
9) Hotel Transylvania 2 Sony $2,350,000 Total $165,244,692
10) The Last Witch Hunter LG/S $1,500,000 Total $26,076,579
11) Spotlight ORF $1,398,405 Total $1,815,175
120 My All American CE $1,392,000
