Sunday Update: Warner’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took in an estimated $41.42 million this weekend to remain in first place. The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy was down a healthy 24 percent from last weekend. The film’s second weekend hold was better than that of 2003’s The Return of the King (which fell 30 percent) and nearly on par with that of 2002’s The Two Towers (which fell 21 percent). With those comparisons in mind, this weekend’s hold was a strong sign for the film going forward. The Battle of the Five Armies has grossed $168.52 million in twelve days. That places the film 20 percent ahead of the $140.64 million twelve-day take of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and slightly ahead of the $168.18 million twelve-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
It was a very close race for second place this weekend between Universal’s Unbroken and Disney’s Into the Woods. Weekend estimates for the two films are separated by just $727,000.
Unbroken has the slight edge for second this weekend with an estimated $31.75 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama has exceeded expectations in a big way with a four-day start of $47.34 million. Mixed critical reviews clearly haven’t hampered the film out of the gates, which was aided greatly by the pre-existing fanbase of the Laura Hillenbrand written book. Unbroken is running an impressive 22 percent ahead of the $38.73 million four-day start of 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 10 percent ahead of the $43.02 million four-day take of 2012’s Django Unchained.
Unbroken received an A- rating on CinemaScore, which suggests the film is going over significantly better with moviegoers than it has with critics. The audience breakdown for the film skewed heavily towards moviegoers 25 years and older (71 percent) and towards female moviegoers (52 percent).
Into the Woods placed in third with an estimated $31.02 million. The Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep opened on the high end of expectations with a four-day debut of $46.11 million. The film’s start was especially impressive given its relatively modest 2,440 location count. That gave Into the Woods a per-location average of $12,714 for the three-day frame, which was the highest location average among wide releases this weekend. Into the Woods is running 21 percent ahead of the $38.03 million four-day start of 2008’s Bedtime Stories and a slim 5 percent behind the $48.75 million four-day gross of 2012’s Les Misérables.
The audience breakdown for Into the Woods skewed towards moviegoers over the age of 25 (57 percent) and towards female moviegoers (54 percent). Family audiences made up 38 percent of the film’s overall audience. Into the Woods received a B rating on CinemaScore.
Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb claimed fourth place with an estimated $20.6 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise was up an impressive 20 percent from last weekend’s softer than expected debut. Secret of the Tomb has grossed $55.33 million in ten days. That places the film 12 percent ahead of the $49.53 million ten-day take of 2011’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb has already registered a current total gross to opening weekend ratio of 3.24 to 1 thanks to very strong holiday holding power thus far.
Annie rounded out the weekend’s top five with an estimated $16.6 million. Sony’s musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz increased 5 percent over last weekend. Annie has grossed $45.84 million in ten days, which places the film 7.5 percent behind the mentioned ten-day gross of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. The total gross to opening weekend ratio for Annie already stands at 2.89 to 1.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 placed in sixth with an estimated $10.0 million. In the process, the third installment of Lionsgate’s blockbuster franchise surpassed the $300 million domestic milestone this weekend, making it the second release of 2014 to do so (joining Guardians of the Galaxy). Mockingjay – Part 1 was up 27 percent over last weekend and has grossed $306.66 million in 38 days.
Paramount’s The Gambler debuted in seventh with an estimated $9.3 million. The Mark Wahlberg led drama was off to a solid four-day start of $14.3 million, especially when considering its modest price tag and that it its scheduled wide release was fairly last minute. However, early long-term signs for the film haven’t been as promising, as the film registered a front-loaded four-day to three-day ratio of 1.54 to 1 and received a lackluster C+ rating on CinemaScore.
The Imitation Game had a very successful expansion this weekend with an estimated $7.93 million eighth place take from just 747 locations. The awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Company grossed $11.01 million over the four-day frame and has grossed a very promising $14.63 million to date.
The news wasn’t anywhere near as good for fellow Weinstein Company release Big Eyes. The Tim Burton directed drama starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz debuted with an estimated $2.99 million over the weekend and just $4.40 million in its first four days. Big Eyes was launched in a somewhat surprising 1,307 locations this weekend and in hindsight was probably better suited for a more limited release this weekend.
Also opening this weekend was Sony’s much buzzed about The Interview. After initially having its wide release canceled, Sony gave the comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco a last-minute limited theatrical release in 331 smaller independent locations (while also giving the film a digital release). The results of the film’s theatrical release were mixed, as it grossed an estimated $1.81 million over the weekend and $2.85 million in four days.
On the platform front, awards season hopefuls American Sniper and Selma were both off to very strong starts this weekend. Warner’s American Sniper took in an estimated $610,000 over the weekend and $850,000 in four days from 4 locations, while Paramount’s Selma took in an estimated $590,000 over the weekend and $912,000 in four days from 19 locations. That gave American Sniper and Selma respective three-day per-location averages of $152,500 and $31,053. Selma is scheduled to receive a nationwide expansion on January 9th, while American Sniper will receive a nationwide expansion one week later on January 16th.
Saturday Update: After sliding to third place on Christmas Day, Warner’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies returned to first place on Friday with an estimated $15.65 million. The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy experienced a 19 percent daily increase on Boxing Day and was down a very healthy 5.5 percent from last Friday. The film has now led the daily box office for nine of the past ten days. The Battle of the Five Armies has grossed $142.75 million in ten days and is set to surpass the $150 million mark today. The film is currently running 12 percent ahead of the $127.55 million ten-day take of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and 5 percent behind the $150.04 million ten-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. BOXOFFICE currently projects a first place take of $42.5 million this weekend for The Battle of the Five Armies.
Universal’s Unbroken continued to impress on Friday with an estimated second place take of $12.3 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama was down a sizable, but understandable 21 percent from its strong Christmas Day performance. The film continues to be critic proof, as mixed critical reviews clearly haven’t hampered the film out of the gates. Unbroken has grossed a stronger than expected $27.89 million in its first two days of release. That places the film an impressive 11.5 percent ahead of the $25.02 million two-day start of 2012’s Django Unchained. BOXOFFICE is projecting a weekend take of $32.3 million for Unbroken, which would bring the film’s four-day start to $47.89 million and place the film in a photo finish with Into the Woods for second place over the weekend. Unbroken received an A- rating on CinemaScore, which suggests the film is going over significantly better with moviegoers than it has with critics.
Disney’s Into the Woods continued to run neck and neck with Unbroken, as it placed in third with an estimated $12.21 million. The Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep was down 19 percent from Thursday. Into the Woods, which is playing in a relatively modest 2,440 locations, continued to post strong per-location numbers with a daily location average of $5,003. That was the day’s strongest per-location average among wide releases and strongly suggests that the film will expand into additional locations going forward. Into the Woods has grossed $27.29 million in two days, which places the film 10 percent behind the $30.27 million two-day start of 2012’s Les Misérables. BOXOFFICE currently projects Into the Woods to take in $32.2 million over the weekend, which would place the film’s four-day start at $47.29 million. Into the Woods received a B rating on CinemaScore.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb placed in fourth with an estimated $7.42 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise from Fox continued to build momentum on Friday, as it was up 2 percent from Thursday and up an impressive 31 percent over last Friday. Family films released before Christmas often open to underwhelming numbers before holding up very well between Christmas and New Year’s and that is definitely looking to be the case for Secret of the Tomb. The film has grossed $42.15 million in eight days, which places it a slim 0.5 percent behind the $42.36 million eight-day take of 2011’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (which had yet to see its Christmas bump at that point in its run). BOXOFFICE is estimating a fourth place take of $20.5 million for Secret of the Tomb.
Annie was up one spot from Thursday to round out Friday’s top five with an estimated $6.1 million. Sony’s musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz was up a strong 33 percent over Thursday and up 15 percent over last Friday. Yesterday’s strong daily hold strongly suggests that the film’s Christmas Day performance was deflated a bit from the new direct competition from Into the Woods. Annie has grossed $35.34 million in eight days, which places the film 17 percent behind the pace of the mentioned Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. BOXOFFICE projects a fifth place take of $17.0 million for Annie this weekend.
Also holding up nicely on Friday was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. The third installment of Lionsgate’s blockbuster franchise claimed sixth place with an estimated $3.55 million. The film was up 32 percent over Christmas Day and up 56 percent over last Friday. Mockingjay – Part 1 surpassed the $300 million domestic milestone on Friday, making it the second release of 2014 to do so (joining Guardians of the Galaxy). BOXOFFICE is projecting Mockingjay – Part 1 to take sixth place this weekend with $10.2 million.
On the heels of a nice start on Christmas Day, Paramount’s The Gambler was down two spots and a sharp 31 percent on Friday to place in seventh with an estimated $3.43 million. Yesterday’s hold isn’t the most promising early sign for the Mark Wahlberg led drama. With that said, The Gambler has grossed a solid $8.43 million in its first two days, especially with its modest price tag in mind. BOXOFFICE is estimating The Gambler to place in seventh over the weekend with $8.7 million, which would give the film a four-day start of $13.7 million. The Gambler received a lackluster C+ rating on CinemaScore.
The Imitation Game placed in eighth on Friday with an estimated $2.89 million from just 747 locations. The awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Company was down a slim 6 percent from Thursday’s performance. The Imitation Game has grossed $9.59 million to date and is on course to have a very successful expansion this weekend. BOXOFFICE currently estimates The Imitation Game to gross $8.3 million this weekend.
Other Friday performances for Christmas Day releases included $1.04 million for The Weinstein Company’s Big Eyes from 1,307 locations, $0.725 million for Sony’s much hyped The Interview from 331 locations, $211,000 for Paramount’s Selma from 19 locations and $199,000 for Warner’s American Sniper from just 4 locations. Respective two-day starts stand at $2.46 million for Big Eyes, at $1.77 million for The Interview, at $533,000 for Selma and at a promising $440,000 for American Sniper.
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