2015 Off To Fantastic Start, Up 6.5%: Post-New Year’s Box Office Actuals
Update, Monday Jan. 5: And with the turn of the New Year, the domestic box office is up 6.5% for the first four days of 2015 with $210.2M versus the same period in 2014 which counted $197.4M according to Rentrak. The post-New Year’s FSS clocked in with $154.6M, down 26% from the post Christmas frame of $209M — but no one is sobbing. Why? Because this year’s post New Year’s frame was up a superb 10% from 2014’s $141.2M. Here’s the top 20 actuals– APD:
Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five (WB), $21.7M, 3,875 locations, $5,608 average, Total cume: $220.6M, Wk 3
Into The Woods (DIS), $18.7M, 2,538 locations, $7,379 average, Total cume: $90.8M, Wk 2
Unbroken (UNI), $18.2M, 3,190 locations, $5,696 average, Total cume: $87.7M, Wk 2
The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death (Relativity), $15.0M, 2,602 locations, $5,775 average, Total cume: $15.0M, Wk 1
Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb (FOX), $14.5M, 3,802 locations, $3,819 average, Total cume: $89.8M , Wk 3
Annie (Sony), $11.3M, 166 locations, $3,554 average, Total cume: $72.5M, Wk 3
The Imitation Game (TWC), $7.8M, 754 locations, $10,308 average, Total cume: $30.5M, Wk 6
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (LG), $7.6M, 2,505 locations, $3,018 average, Total cume: $323.7M, Wk 7
The Gambler (PAR), $6.3M, 2,494 locations, $2,539 average, Total cume: $27.6, Wk 2
Big Hero 6 (DIS), $4.8M, 1,913 locations, $2,486 average, Total cume: $211.2M, Wk 9
Wild (FSL), $4.6M 1,361 locations, $3,353 average, Total cume: $25.9M, Wk 5
Exodus: Gods And Kings (FOX), $3.8M, 2,260 locations, $1,689 average, Total cume: $61.3, Wk 4
Penguins Of Madagascar (FOX), $2.9M, 1,585 locations, $1,827 average, Total cume: $78.1M, Wk 6
Big Eyes (TWC), $2.6M, 1,408 locations, $1,854 average, Total cume: $9.9M, Wk 2
Interstellar (PAR), $2.5M, 1,048 locations, $2,347 average, Total cume: $182.8M, Wk 9
Top Five (PAR), $2.1M, 1,195 locations, $1,791 average, Total cume: $23.7M,Wk 4
The Theory Of Everything (Focus Features), $1.1, 651 locations, $1,699 average, Total cume: $24.8M , Wk 9
The Interview (SONY), $1.08M , 581 locations, $1,868 average, Total cume: $4.9M, Wk 2
Horrible Bosses 2 (WB), $928K, 702 locations, $1,323 average, Total cume: $53.1M, Wk 6
Birdman (FSL), $860K, 282 locations, $3,052 average, Total cume: $25.4, Wk 12
Previous, Sunday 11AM: (Analysis by Brian Brooks) Audiences maintained their affair with The Hobbit in the first weekend of 2015 even as they began a dalliance with The Woman In Black 2, which landed in fourth for the weekend. Disney’s Into The Woods and Universal’s Unbroken, meanwhile, traded places in the Top 3 from last weekend. Woods grossed an estimated $19.1M Friday to Sunday vs. Unbroken‘s $18.358M estimated weekend take.
Overall, the box office has grossed an estimated $208.233M New Year’s Day through Sunday, a 5.5% increase from 2014’s first four-day total of $197.444M, according to Rentrak Theatrical. The Top 10 features totaled $127.256M Friday to Sunday, down 28.7% from last weekend’s $178.521M, but up 7% from last year’s Top 10 of $118.936M, which included Frozen and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The weekend’s total box office cume came in at $153M, an 8.4% increase from the same period last year, according to Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian.
Warner Bros’ The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is estimated to have grossed $21.9M Friday to Sunday in 3,875 theaters, a 46% decline from the previous weekend’s 3-day $41.4M gross. That is lower than the third frame of Smaug, which came in at just over $29M and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘s $31.9M. Still, Five Armies first January frame outperformed Smaug‘s $15.675M gross during the same period last year as well as An Unexpected Journey‘s $17.5M two years prior. Both Smaug and An Unexpected Journey opened earlier in December than Five Armies, which moved its release forward to capitalize on when the Christmas holiday fell on the calendar.
The Five Armies’ has now been atop the box office for three weeks, aligning the title with the previous five Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit titles which all landed number one in the box office for three weeks or more.
Relativity’s The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death grossed an estimated $15.14M FSS, beating the distributor’s initial estimates of $9-$11M, and ended up in fourth overall. Not bad for a $1M acquisition. It came on strong Friday with a $7.75M gross (including $1.5M from Thursday evening sneak screenings) and rounded out Saturday with a $4.93M daily gross (-36%).
“This first weekend in January has proven to be a solid core weekend for [thrillers],” said Kyle Davies, Relativity’s President Worldwide Distribution. “In terms of geography, it played broadly in large cities and small towns with strong Hispanic and African American representation. It skewed younger and female.”
Exit polls showed The Woman In Black 2‘s crowd was 53% female and 65% 25 and under. Caucasians made up 38% of the weekend’s crowd, with 25% being African American and 24% Hispanic.
Angel Of Death received a C CinemaScore, which places it line with other horror movies that performed at the box office including Ouija ($50.85M cume), The Cabin In The Woods ($42M cume) and Paranormal Activity 4 ($53.9M cume).
Disney’s Into The Woods and Universal’s Unbroken have vied for the No. 2 slot in the box office, though Woods is in 652 fewer theaters. Woods‘ $19.1M weekend gross is off just 39% from last weekend’s $46.1M (which included $1.1M from Xmas Eve), while Unbroken’s $18.358M weekend tally is off 40% from its $47.34M gross last weekend (which included an $850K from Xmas Eve). In its second weekend, Les Miserables grossed just north of $16M in 2,904 locations, 366 more than Woods.
While each title has temporarily held the lead over the other on any given day since their debuts two weeks ago, sources expect the younger-skewing Into The Woods to edge out Unbroken.
Fox’s Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb was off just 28% from the previous weekend, grossing an estimated $14.45M Friday to Sunday despite shedding 112 theaters. Its cume is now just shy of $90M.
TWC added just seven locations for The Imitation Game‘s sixth weekend, grossing over $8.1M in 754 theaters, up 2% from last week’s $7.93M and placing it just ahead of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 in seventh place.
Coming out of the holidays, Imitation Game is 34% ahead of The King’s Speech, Weinstein’s 2010-11 Oscar and box-office hit, said Erik Lomis, the company’s president of theatrical.
“The days don’t align precisely but all signs are good for Imitation Game,” he said. “It’s playing fantastic. Usually in 700 theaters you can find a number that are weak, but here it’s really only about five of them.” TWC will double the number of theaters for The Imitation Game this week and will go wide by the end of January or early February.
Paramount added 16 runs for its remake of The Gambler, grossing $6.3M in 2,494 theaters, dropping the Mark Wahlberg-starrer 29% from the previous week. His 2010 feature The Fighter grossed $12.13M in its second frame, though that came with a 2,500-theater increase from the title’s initial four-theater bow. Fighter went on to cume over $93.61M.
Disney’s animated awards hopeful Big Hero 6 re-entered the Top 10 with an estimated $4.816M weekend gross in 1,913 locations, down 4% from the previous weekend. In nine weeks, it has cumed $211.3M. Fox Searchlight’s Wild placed just under Big Hero 6, grossing $4.5M, off 17% from the previous weekend’s $5.4M. It has cumed $25.81M.
And Sony’s Christmas controversy The Interview grossed an estimated $1.1M Friday to Sunday in 581 theaters, 39% off from last weekend’s $1.8M from 331 runs. Its theatrical cume is now over $4.9M, but it also made more than $15 million in on-demand sales and rentals in its first week of release, Sony said. By early this past week, the company had expanded the online availability of the film, adding online giant Apple iTunes along with cable, satellite and telecom video providers.
Here are the initial top 10 studio estimates. MORE analysis come:
1). The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (WB), 3,875 theaters/3-Day: $21.91M (-46%)/Total cume: $220.76M/Wk 3
2). Into The Woods (DIS), 2,538 theaters (+98)/3-Day:$19.1M (-39%)/Total cume:$91.2M/Wk 2
3). Unbroken (UNI), 3,190 theaters (+59)/3-Day: $18.358M (-40%)/Total cume: $87.8M/Wk 2
4.) The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death (Relativity), 2,602 theaters/3-Day: $15.145M/Total cume: $15.145M/Wk 1
includes $1.5M from Thursday night sneak previews
5). Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb (FOX), 3,802 theaters (-112)/3-Day: $14.45M (-28%)/Total cume: $89,725,652 /Wk 3
6). Annie (Sony), 3,166 theaters (-31)/3-Day: $11.4M (-31%)/Total cume: $72.6M/Wk 3
7.) The Imitation Game (TWC), 754 theaters (+7)/3-Day: $8.111M (+2%)/Total cume: $30.8M/Wk 6
8). The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (LGF), 2,505 theaters (-288)/3-Day:$7.7M (-23%)/Total cume: $323.87M/Wk 7
9). The Gambler (PAR), 2,494 theaters (+16)/3-Day:$6.3M (-29%)/Total cume: $27.566M/Wk 2
10). Big Hero 6 (DIS), 1,913 theaters (-152)/3-Day: $4.816M(-4%)/Total cume: $211.268M/Wk 9
NOTABLE
Wild (FSL), 1,361 theaters (+76)/3-Day: $4.5M (-15%)/Total cume: $25.81M/Wk 5
Big Eyes (TWC), 1,408 theaters (+101)/3-Day: $2.62M (-13%)/Total cume: $9.9M/Wk 2
The Interview (Sony), 581 theaters (+250)/3-Day: $1.1M (-39%)/Total cume: $4.915M/Wk 2
American Sniper (WB), 4 theaters/$158K screen average/3-Day: $640K (1%)/Total cume: $2.2M/Wk 2
Selma (Par), 22 theaters (+3)/$28K screen average/3-Day: $645K (+8%)/Total cume: $2.1M/Wk 2
A Most Violent Year (A24) 4 theaters/$47k screen average/3-day:$188K/Total cume:$300K/Wk 1
Bowed Wednesday
A Most Violent Year (A24), 4 theaters/ 3-Day: $188K/ Total cume: $188K/Wk 1
Previous, Saturday, 8AM: Studio-reported Friday estimates are in with The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, of course, showing its hold on No. 1 with $8.38M and a cume of $207.2M. But the biggest change is that Relativity’s The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death has climbed over Universal’s Unbroken and Disney’s Into The Woods for the No. 2 Friday spot at $7.75M. The film, which was acquired by Relativity for $1M, looks like it will settle for fourth by Sunday with $16.2M, with Unbroken and Into the Woods regaining their respective No. 2 (at $19.2M) and No. 3 slots (at $19M). Into The Woods came in third Friday with $7.46M and a cume of $79.6M. Unbroken made $7.39M on Friday for a $76.8M cume. In sum, a very narrow fight for slots two through four. Per industry estimates, A24’s A Most Violent Year racked up $61K in its third day and is looking at an updated 3-day of $168k and a big $41K per theater. The crime drama, which bowed Wednesday, should be at $279K by tomorrow. The rest are as follows: Fox’s Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb in fifth with $5.93M ($81.2M), Sony’s Annie in sixth with $4.5M ($65.7M), Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 at No. 7 with $3M ($319.2M running cume), TWC’s The Imitation Game with $2.95M ($25.6M) in eighth, Paramount’s The Gambler at nine with $2.58M ($23.8M) and Disney’s Big Hero 6 at No. 10 with $1.88M ($208.3M). Notables: Fox Searchlight’s Wild with $1.7M ($23M), TWC’s Big Eyes with $960K ($8.3M), Paramount’s Selma with $227K ($1.66M) and Warner Bros‘ American Sniper matching last night’s industry estimates with $234K ($1.78M). Sony’s The Interview drew $440K on Friday ($4.3M).
PREVIOUSLY, Saturday, 2AM: With only one new title in the marketplace, a horror film, and a slew of holiday holdovers dominating the top 10 again, this weekend might not sound so riveting. Make no mistake: Distribution chiefs are quite content heading into the post-New Year’s frame given the spillover traffic from the holidays and the folks who are still on break. Not only is New Year’s Day 2015 expected to post a 3.8% rise over 2014, but this weekend’s top 20 films are expected to ring up an estimated total of $155.7M, a 14% surge over last year’s top 20 during the first FSS. A year ago, the January 3-5 period rang up $141.2M for all films, with the top six titles ranging from $10M-$19.6M. This weekend, the top six are expected to have a wider range from $12.2M to $22.18M. Topping all of this off, three late-December titles — Unbroken, Into The Woods and Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb are expected to cross the $90M mark.
Given how competitive the marketplace is now, it made Friday a hard read for some box office bean counters. One industry projection tonight showed Relativity’s new entry The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death actually beating Warner Bros/New Line/MGM’s The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, $8.8M to $8.2M. However, more industry estimates show the latter winning Friday with $8.27M at No. 1 and Woman In Black 2 in No. 4 with $7.39M. The do-si-do between Into The Woods and Unbroken continues between the two and three spots,but as of this minute tonight, Angelina Jolie’s older-demo film is placing second for both Friday ($7.5M) and the weekend with $21.1M. Into The Woods is projected for third with a $7.47M Friday and $18.7M FSS.
Five Armies crossed the $200M in its 17th day — two days faster than both 2013’s The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug and 2001’s The Lord RinOf Thegs: The Fellowship Of The Ring. 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hit the $200M mark in 15 days. The third Hobbit installment is looking to hold No. 1 with $22.18.M.
If tonight’s Friday B.O. of $7.39M (and weekend of $15.2M) for Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death sticks until tomorrow, it will be a slightly lower opening day than the first Woman In Black ($8.3M/$20.87M weekend in February 2012) and even last January’s first frame opener Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones ($8.7M/$18.3M weekend). Relativity is hoping that with Woman In Black 2 being the only horror film in the market for the next couple of months, it will reap some extra fortune. In addition, it’s a PG-13 title, so it’s not kicking any teens out of the theater and into the parking lot.
Unlike the first Woman In Black ($54.3M final domestic in 2012), which landed a B- CinemaScore, Woman in Black 2 got a C. Now, understand that when it comes to CinemaScores and horror films, the two often contradict each other. The industry’s box office leg barometer for this genre isn’t as exact as with others. Quite often, top-grossing horror films are in the B or B+ range, i.e. Annabelle ($84.3M) and Scream 2 ($101.4M). But lower-grade CinemaScoring films can yield results: i.e. Paranormal Activity 3 got a C+ and ended its run at $104M, the second-highest chapter in the franchise. 2013’s Mama got a C and legged out at $71.6. Then there’s the lower end of the C spectrum: Lionsgate’s The Cabin In The Woods posted a bow of $14.7M and a final B.O. of $42.1M. The first Woman In Black was based on Susan Hill’s 1983 book. It spawned a 1987 play that was mounted first in Scarborough, England; in 1989, it moved to the West End ,where it has become the second-longest-running play there after Mousetrap. Hill received a story credit on the sequel. Also, note that the first Woman In Black, released by CBS films on February 3, 2012, benefited greatly from Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe. It was the actor’s first film after the Potter series ended, and it was pretty much a guarantee that a portion of his fanbase would show up. WomanIn Black 2 stars British actor Jeremy Irvine, who made his debut before U.S. moviegoers in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated 2011 film War Horse.
Family product continues to dominate the chart with Night At The Museum 3, Annie and Disney’s Big Hero 6 bouncing back into the top 10.
Among adult-driven titles in under 1,000 engagements, audiences are entranced by The Imitation Game. With a projected running cume of $30M in its sixth frame, Imitation Game is flying past its awards competition, which have spent more time in theaters than the Alan Turing biopic: Fox Searchlight’s Birdman (estimated cume through 12 weekends: $25.4M), Focus Features’ The Theory Of Everything ($24.8M estimated cume through nine frames) and Sony Classics’ Foxcatcher ($7.9M eighth-sesh running cume by Sunday).
Nonetheless, in New York, Los Angeles and select markets, the unspooling of hot awards contenders continues to fuel business. This weekend’s new ar thouse entry, A24’s A Most Violent Year, which has amassed a Golden Globe nom (Jessica Chastain best supporting actress), three Independent Spirits (editing, screenplay and supporting female) as well and a best pic win from the National Board of Review as well as wins for Chastain (supporting actress) and Oscar Isaac (best actor) collected an estimated $59K in its third day of release and is eyeing a five-day total cume of $276K from four theaters. Warner Bros’ American Sniper continues to amaze and is seeing an 18% uptick in its second Friday with $234K and another $630K+ in its second FSS, repping an even hold. Paramount’s Selma is expected to see an 8% weekend uptick bringing its cume through 11 days to $2.1M.
Despite being in 250 more theaters, Sony’s The Interview was down from its post-Christmas Friday by 51% and it looks to fall in its 3-day estimate. The film’s wide availability on VOD, which minted $15M, overpowered the Seth Rogen-James Franco’s theatrical B.O. last weekend of $2.48M by 428%.
By Sunday, Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is expected to have a running cume of $324.1M, about $8.87M off from eclipsing Disney/Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy as the highest-grossing film of 2014.
Below is Friday’s top 10 and notables per industry estimates:
1). The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (WB), 3,875 theaters $8.27M Fri. (-47%)/3-Day: $22.18M (-46%)/Total cume: $221M/Wk 3
2). Unbroken (UNI), 3,190 theaters (+59)/$7.5M Fri. (-39%)/3-Day: $21.09M (-31%)/Total cume: $90.8M/Wk 2
3). Into The Woods (DIS), 2,538 theaters (+98)/$7.47M Fri. (-39%)/3-Day:$18.65M (-40%)/Total cume:$91.7M/Wk 2
4.) The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death (Relativity), 2,602 theaters /$7.39M Fri.*/3-Day: $15.15M/Total cume: $15.15M/Wk 1
includes $1.5M from Thursday night sneak previews
5). Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb (FOX), 3,802 theaters (-112)/$6.11M Fri. (-17%)/3-Day: $15.95M (-21%)/Total cume: $91.45 /Wk 3
6). Annie (Sony), 3,166 theaters (-31)/$4.85M Fri. (-20%/3-Day: $12.22M (-26%)/Total cume: $73.4M/Wk 3
7). The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (LGF), 2,505 theaters (-288)/$2.99M Fri. (-15%)/3-Day:$7.7M (-23%)/Total cume: $324.1M/Wk 7
8.) The Imitation Game (TWC), 754 theaters (+7)/$2.86M Fri. (-1%)/3-Day: $8.3M (+4%)/Total cume: $31M/Wk 6
9). The Gambler (PAR), 2,494 theaters (+16)/$2.465M Fri. (-28%)/3-Day:$6.8M (-25%)/Total cume: $28.1M/Wk 2
10). Big Hero 6 (DIS), 1,913 theaters (-152)/$1.87M Fri. (+13%)/3-Day: $5.3M(+6%)/Total cume: $211.8M/Wk 9
NOTABLE
11). Wild (FSL), 1,361 theaters (+76)/$1.65M Fri. (-12%)/3-Day: $4.65M (-14%)/Total cume: $26.1.M/Wk 5
Big Eyes (TWC), 1,408 theaters (+101)/$957K Fri. (-8%)/3-Day: $2.62M (-13%)/Total cume: $9.9M/Wk 2
The Interview (Sony), 581 theaters (+250)/$362K Fri.* (-51%)/3-Day: $952K (-47%)/Total cume: $4.75M/Wk 2
American Sniper (WB), 4 theaters/$234K Fri. (+18%)/$158K screen average/3-Day: $633K(even)/Total cume: $2.2M/Wk 2
Selma (Par), 22 theaters (+3)/$231K Fri. (+9%)/$28K screen average/3-Day: $619K (+8%)/Total cume: $2.1M/Wk 2
A Most Violent Year (A24) 4 theaters/$59K Fri./$41k screen average/3-day:$166K/Total cume:$276K/Wk 1
Bowed Wednesday
Related stories
'Hobbit' Passes $500M; 'American Sniper', 'Taken 3′ Skillful: Intl Box Office Update
'A Most Violent Year' Robust In Specialty Debut; 'American Sniper' 2nd Frame On Target
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
