Mockingjay, Part 2, which earned $11.5 million and brought its domestic total to $244.5 million, remains about $32 million behind Part 1, and with its daily grosses now pretty much matching its predecessor’s, it appears that Part 2 will end its run about $32 million less than Part 1’s domestic total of $337.1 million. Mockingjay, Part 2 has now earned $320 million overseas for a current worldwide total of $564.3 million (versus Part I’s final total of $755.4 million).
Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea adapts the saga of the American whaling ship Essex, which was rammed and sunk by a whale in 1820, an incident that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. Perhaps invoking the 800-page Melville classic (that many high school students are still forced to read) was not the best kind of publicity, but Warner Bros. decision to move the premiere of the film from March, when it would have been seen as something different and exciting, to a week when the movie-going public is preoccupied with a certain science fiction film that is opening next week, certainly appears to have been a mistake.
In the Heart of the Sea is a rousing, old school adventure film that deserves a better fate, but younger viewers were not intrigued. Sixty-eight percent of the opening weekend audience was over 35, with 46% over 50, with only 8% under 18 and 17% under 25. With an opening weekend total of just barely $11 million, the $100 million production, which hasn’t fared well overseas either, is in serious trouble. It’s only hope is to hang around and build a bit of an audience based on word-of-mouth. In spite of a low score from the critics (only 44% positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave the film an OK “B+” CinemaScore, which gives In the Heart of the Sea at least some chance of hanging around long enough to avoid really big losses (and remember its’ $100 million cost is far less that the price tags of some recent major bombs like John Carter and Pan.
Low percentage drops in the top ten are typically a good thing, but with so many long-in-the-tooth holdovers, the percentage drops don’t mean very much, since the films are retaining a high percentage of very low numbers. Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur remained in third place, but it is likely to be the studio’s first flop in years. Right now it appears that The Good Dinosaur will have a hard time matching the indifferent success of The Peanuts Movie.
|
Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): December 11-13, 2015 |
||||||
|
Film |
Weekend Gross |
Screens |
Avg./Screen |
Total Gross |
Wk# |
|
|
1 |
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 |
$11,300,000 |
3,651 |
$3,095 |
$244,490,956 |
4 |
|
2 |
In the Heart of the Sea |
$11,005,000 |
3,103 |
$3,547 |
$11,005,000 |
1 |
|
3 |
The Good Dinosaur |
$10,497,000 |
3,606 |
$2,911 |
$89,660,791 |
3 |
|
4 |
Creed |
$10,120,000 |
3,502 |
$2,890 |
$79,321,018 |
3 |
|
5 |
Krampus |
$8,010,000 |
2,919 |
$2,744 |
$28,151,330 |
2 |
|
6 |
Spectre |
$4,000,000 |
2,640 |
$1,515 |
$190,767,660 |
6 |
|
7 |
The Night Before |
$3,900,000 |
2,674 |
$1,458 |
$38,205,656 |
4 |
|
8 |
The Peanuts Movie |
$2,650,000 |
2,653 |
$999 |
$124,955,585 |
6 |
|
9 |
Spotlight |
$2,508,853 |
1,089 |
$2,304 |
$20,302,802 |
6 |
|
10 |
Brooklyn |
$1,975,000 |
947 |
$2,086 |
$14,330,423 |
6 |
Ryan Coogler’s Creed finished in fourth place, but the latest movie in the “Rocky” franchise looks now like a solid hit, not a breakout film that could revitalize an entire genre.
Universal’s holiday horror film Krampus dropped just 50%, a good second week hold for a horror film, but this movie could end up doing more damage on video in the coming decades. The latest James Bond film Spectre has passed $820 million worldwide, which means that it should be in the black sometime soon, insuring the continuation of the increasingly expensive Bond franchise.
With the box office basically treading water while awaiting the arrival of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, interest was focused on Adam McKay’s financial drama The Big Short, which opened in just 8 theaters and earned $720K for a solid 90K per theater average, the best showing this year for an 8 theater debut. It appears that The Big Short, which has loads of big name stars, will soon take its place with the other adult-skewing Oscar hopefuls in the back half of the top ten.
Be sure to check back here next weekend to gauge the success of the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, along with that of a certain science fiction saga, upon which the overall fate of the 2015 box office may rest.
