CINDERELLA (Disney) had an enchanted Friday, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, with $23M (that includes $2.3M from Thursday night), and since its target audience is all about weekend matinees, it should be at $70M and perhaps even $75M by Sunday. That would be better than the $69.4M opening for Maleficent, which had a summer premiere and Angelina Jolie in the lead in its favor (not to mention a considerably higher production budget than Cinderella‘s reported $95M). In short, even with tremendous worldwide marketing costs that will push the total tab to $225M+, this will be yet another highly profitable enterprise for Disney, and DreamWorks will have to hope it burns out quickly, before that studio’s Home opens in 2 weeks.
As has been the case throughout 2015, a huge hit obscures a flop opening alongside it. This weekend, that’s RUN ALL NIGHT (Warners), which earned only $3.9M on Friday, and may reach $10-11M for the weekend. That would put it below Liam Neeson’s recent flop A Walk Among the Tombstones, which opened to $12.8M (after a $4.8M Friday) and ended at $23.7M in the US. It suggests that other than his exploits in the Taken franchise, Neeson’s days as an action star may be drawing to a close. Night wasn’t terribly expensive, but it will still need foreign overperformance (which Tombstone didn’t get, pulling in $26.9M outside the US) to hit breakeven.
The beneficiary of weak male-oriented movies like Chappie, Focus and now Run All Night continues to be KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE (MARV/20th), which dipped just 27% from last Friday to $1.6M and should have a $6M weekend, pushing it to $107M in the US.
The numbers are misleading for THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (Fox Searchlight), because although it had a soft Friday-to-Friday drop of 40% to $1.6M, it increased its theatre count by 25%, which means its per-theatre drop will be closer to 45-50%, not a great hold for a film that appeals to an older audience. It should have a $6M weekend, but could be running out of steam, and may not be able to match the first Marigold‘s $46.4M US total.
FOCUS (RatPac Dune/Warners) continues to drop, down 45% from last Friday to $1.6M, and is on its way to a $5-6M weekend and a US total around $55M. The bottom fell out of CHAPPIE (MRC/Columbia/Sony), down 66% from its opening day to $1.5M, and unlikely to get past $35M in the US after a $5M weekend. That hold was actually worse than the 62% Friday-to-Friday drop of the reviled UNFINISHED BUSINESS (Regency/20th), although that flop’s numbers are even more pathetic, with less than $700K on Friday and a probable $2M weekend.
The strong trio of THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER (Nickelodeon/Par), MCFARLAND USA (Disney), and THE DUFF (CBS/Lionsgate) continued to hold well, respectively down 31% (to $950K), 34% (to $950K) and 40% (to $900K), and heading for weekends of $4.5M/$3.5M and $3M.
In limited release, the acclaimed indie horror thriller IT FOLLOWS (Radius/Weinstein) had a sharp start, with a $10K per-theatre average in 4 NY/LA theatres, but in LA, at least, that number was boosted by in-theatre Q&As that featured fanboy god Edgar Wright, so its weekend multiple may be subpar.
About the Author
