Box Office: Matt Damon’s 'The Martian' Blasts Off to Earth-Shattering $55 Million
by Pamela McClintock
Ridley Scott’s 3D space epic The Martian rocketed to a $55 million opening in North America, coming in ahead of expectations and almost beating Gravity to nab the top October opening of all time, according to Sunday estimates.
The Martian, from 20th Century Fox, continues Hollywood’s love affair with space, and comes exactly two years after Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity opened to a record $55.8 million. Last November, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar debuted just north of $47 million. If The Martian does better than expected Sunday, it could beat Gravity and become the new October record-holder.
Drew Goddard wrote the adapted script for The Martian based on Andy Weir’s best-selling book about a NASA astronaut left for dead on Mars. The movie, costing $108 million to produce, is a critical darling and earned a glowing A CinemaScore from audiences.
Damon stars opposite Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan and Aksel Hennie.
The Martian’s performance is no small feat considering its running time of 141 minutes (Gravity was 91 minutes), and the fact that it didn’t have a berth in Imax theaters.
Related: New York Film Fest: Can 'The Walk’ Make a Run at Oscar?
Instead, Imax was committed to an exclusive run of Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as French artist Philippe Petit, who gained fame after he walked on a high wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.
The Walk, playing in 448 Imax theaters plus a smattering of premium large-format theaters not carrying The Martian, didn’t fare as well expected, grossing only $1.6 million to come in No. 11. Heading into the weekend, tracking suggested the $35 million film would take in $3 million.
Sony/TriStar used the exclusive Imax run to highlight the film’s 3D format and to build word-of-mouth in advance of The Walk’s nationwide opening on Oct. 9. Two weeks ago, Universal’s Everest earned $7.2 million when debuting exclusively in Imax and premium large-format theaters.
Related: 'The Martian’ Composer on Creating Matt Damon’s Theme, Ridley Scott’s 'Prometheus’ Plans
Elsewhere, Denis Villeneuve’s critically acclaimed Sicario expanded nationwide with gusto, grossing $12.1 million from 2,620 theaters to place No. 3 behind The Martian and holdover Hotel Transylvania 2. From Lionsgate, the drug cartel drama stars Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin and earned an A- CinemaScore.
Sony’s Hotel Transylvania sequel remains a winner in its second outing. The animated film took in $33 million for a 10-day domestic total of $90.5 million after falling a scant 32 percent. Nancy Meyers’ The Intern also held nicely in its second weekend as well, grossing $11.6 million for a North American tally of $36.5 million for Warner Bros.
Fox sequel Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials rounded out the top five, grossing $7.7 million in its third outing for a domestic cume of $63.2 million.
