It will be interesting to see just how farHidden Figurescan go. The film took #1 at the box office for the second weekend in a row, and according to THR, the civil rights drama is “now looking to pull in $25.3 million-plus over the four-day holiday,” which would bring its domestic total to $59.6 million. That’s an impressive take for a film with a reported production budget of $25 million. While it will have stiff competition in the weeks ahead, don’t look forHidden Figuresto slow down, especially if it scores any Oscar nominations. Also, studios should take note: there’s an audience for movies driven by women and diversity.
The weekend’s other big success story wasRogue One: A Star Wars Story. While the film dropped to fourth place, it also earned a four-day tally of $17 million, which pushed it pastFinding Doryto become the highest-grossing domestic release of 2016. The film will end the weekend with a worldwide haul of roughly $980 million, and it should cross the $1 billion mark in the next week or two.
The news wasn’t so pleasant for new releases. There was some modest success forThe Bye Bye Man, which came in ahead of expectations to earn $13.4 million off a $7.4 million budget. Cheap horror gets people in the seats, and even if its critically derided and poorly received (the film only got a ‘C’ CinemaScore), it can make a tidy profit for the studio, in this cast STX Entertainment.Sleeplessalso performed above expectations to earn a projected four-day total of $10 million from 1,803 locations.
But these were modestly budgeted affairs. With a budget of $125 million,Monster Truckscrashed and burned at the box office. The movie has a projected four-day gross of $14.1 million from 3,111 locations. While that’s slightly above what was expected, it’s still a far cry from what was needed, and Viacom, the company that owns Paramount, had to take a $115 million write down in advance of the film’s launch.
There’s going to be a lot of talk of what the future holds forBen Affleckfollowing the letdown ofLive by Night. Three years ago, Affleck was one of Hollywood’s hottest directors having earned a Best Picture Oscar forArgo. He continually pushed backLive by Nightto makeBatman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeandThe Accountant, and while that’s made him a more bankable actor,Live by Nightdoesn’t look good on his balance sheet as a director. The movie may not even crack $6 million over the four-day weekend and it only earned a ‘B’ CinemaScore. The film is also struggling overseas, where it only earned $3.3 million. At this point, Affleck may want to consider helmingThe Batmannot because he wants to, but because it’s a guaranteed hit that will allow him to pursue other projects.
And while Martin Scorsese is a living legend, he’s not immune from flops.Silenceis only expected to make $2.3 million over the four-day weekend despite costing $50 million to make. It might find better fortunes overseas, but I don’t think we can be surprised that a slow-moving, thoughtful drama about the limits of faith failed to pull in the same amount of people as Leonardo DiCaprio living it up as a drug-fueled millionaire.
It wasn’t all bad news for Oscar hopefuls expanding into wider releases.La La Landexpanded into 1,848 theaters including 148 IMAX screens to pull in $17 million over the four-day weekend. That puts its domestic total at $77.1 million. The movie is also performing well overseas. It earned $17.8 million from foreign markets including an impressive $7.3 million from the UK to bring its worldwide total to $132 million. ExpectLa La Land’s success to continue as the Oscar nominations rolls in.
Finally,Patriots Daynabbed a glowing A+ CinemaScore as it expanded to 3,120 theaters and an estimated $14.3 million for the four days. While I’m not sure if it will be competing in a crowded Oscar field, the A+ CinemaScore bodes well for the film continuing to perform in the weeks ahead.
We’re still in the midst of the January doldrums, but that doesn’t mean the box office will be quiet. Next week seesThe Founderfinally expanding, the religious filmThe Resurrection of Gavin Stone, M. Night Shymalan’s return withSplit, and the action sequelxXx: The Return of Xander Cage.
Here’s the Top 10 for the weekend (does not include MLK Jr. day projections):
Hidden Figures
$20,450,000
$54,833,100
La La Land
$14,500,000
$74,081,569
$13,810,970
$233,026,490
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
$13,759,000
$498,850,734
The Bye Bye Man
$13,378,000
Patriots Day
$12,000,000
$12,924,082
Monster Trucks
$10,500,000
$8,468,787
Underworld: Blood Wars
$5,815,000
$23,931,118
Passengers
$5,625,000
$90,004,731
