'Hail, Caesar!' Fumbles With $11.4 Million at the Box Office; 'Pride and Zombies' Lifeless

By Pamela McClintock

Ethan and Joel Coen’s Hail, Caesar! grossed an underwhelming $11.4 million from 2,222 theaters over Super Bowl weekend, the lowest wide opening of the duo’s directing career.

The news was even more grim for mash-up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The movie earned $5.2 million from 2,931 theaters, putting it behind Nicholas Sparks’ film adaptation The Choice, which took in $6.1 million from 2,631 locations. (That’s the lowest opening for Sparks.)

Caesar — receiving a withering C- CinemaScore from audiences — came in No. 2 after Kung Fu Panda 3, which easily stayed No. 1 in its second outing. The animated film grossed $21 million for a domestic total of $69.5 million. And in China, the DreamWorks Animation sequel jumped the $100 million mark.

Related: ‘Hail, Caesar!’ Star Josh Brolin on the Coens: “I Don’t Know Why They Like Me”

An ode to Hollywood of yesteryear, Hail, Caesar! stars George Clooney as a 1950s Hollywood star who is kidnapped from set and held for ransom. A Hollywood fixer (Josh Brolin) sets out to right the situation while also dealing with plenty of other fires at the studio. Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes and Jonah Hill also star in the Universal and Working Title film, which cost $22 million to make after rebates and incentives.

More often than not, films from the Coen brothers are treated like specialty titles and given platform releases. In terms of those have have debuted in more than 1,500 theaters, the previous lowest opening belonged to Intolerable Cruelty with $12.5 million. (The Big Lebowski earned $5.5 million in its first weekend, but only played in 1,207 locations, so wasn’t considered a wide saturated release.)

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, earning a B- CinemaScore, is based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s book interjecting zombies into Jane Austen’s classic tale. The story follows heroine Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James), a master of martial arts and weaponry, and Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley), a fierce zombie killer who must rethink his upper-class prejudices when the two join forces to conquer the undead.

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The $28 million movie was fully financed by Cross Creek Pictures with Screen Gems distributing. Burr Steers directed Zombies, which also stars Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance and Lena Headey.

Lionsgate’s The Choice nabbed a B+ CinemaScore. Directed by Ross Katz, the romancer stars Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer as two neighbors who fall in love upon first meeting. The Choice also stars Maggie Grace, Alexandria Daddario, Tom Welling and Tom Wilkinson. Lionsgate acquired the project for less than $10 million.

The most recently released Sparks adaptation, The Longest Ride, took in $13 million in its debut.

The Choice came in No. 5 behind Kung Fu Panda 3, Hail, Caesar!, The Revenant and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Related: Box-Office Milestone: 'Star Wars: Force Awakens’ Crossing $2B Globally

The Force Awakens celebrated Bowl weekend by becoming the first movie to ever clear $900 million at the North American box office. And on Saturday, the Disney and Lucasfilm title crossed the $2 billion mark globally, a feat previously belonging only to Avatar and Titanic, not accounting for inflation.

And Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s awards frontrunner The Revenant crossed the $300 million globally, a strong showing considering the gritty subject matter.

Universal’s Ride Along 2 revved past $100 million globally in its third weekend, including a domestic total of $77.2 million.

Feb. 6, 7:45 a.m. Updated with Friday numbers.

Feb. 7, 8 a.m. Updated with weekend estimates.