Bond, James Bond and Brown, Charlie Brown, remained the most popular choices at the multiplexes this weekend as Spectre and The Peanuts Movie quickly sent an unappealing trio of newcomers –Love the Coopers, The 33 and My All-American– packing. While the top ten was down 35% from last weekend and 24% a year ago this weekend, it should see a reversal of fortune when the final chapter in The Hunger Games franchise opens on Thursday.
In its second weekend, Spectre earned an estimated $35.4 million from 3,929 screens. The $245 million Sony/MGM production’s ten-day domestic total is $130.7 million. The 50% drop in business is the second best hold of the Bond films -starring Daniel Craig- in their sophomore session. In comparison, round two for Casino Royale dipped 25%, Skyfall slid 53% and Quantum of Solace lost 60% of its premiere crowd. Royale had the 2006 Thanksgiving holiday weekend to fall back on. Skyfall and Quantum had it a bit tougher as each faced off against a film in the Twilight franchise in their second sessions.
Spectre has had the benefit of little to no competition, which is probably a better indicator of its current holding power more than anything else. The real test for the film comes next weekend with the opening of the final Hunger Games. Even with the Katniss conclusion saturating the marketplace, Spectre should remain a popular enough choice with older moviegoers throughout the remainder of the month. By that point, Spectre should have approximately $215-220 million in the domestic coffers and significantly more from overseas. As of today, foreign totals for Spectre stand at $419 million. A record-setting $48 million was contributed from China this weekend.
Charlie Brown and his pals had a great second weekend as The Peanuts Movie earned a solid $24.2 million from 3,902 theaters. Sliding only 45%, the ten-day total for the Fox animated feature stands at $82.5 million. The film has the family audience all to itself for one more weekend prior to the Thanksgiving arrival of Disney’s The Good Dinosaur. The Peanuts Movie should be able to work its way to at least $135 million.
CBS Films’ Love the Coopers was the most successful of the new arrivals, but that really isn’t saying a lot. The critically derided Christmas comedy –which stars Diane Keaton, Alan Arkin, Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried and John Goodman among others- opened in third place on 2,603 screens where it earned a mild $8.4 million. The film was co-distributed by Lionsgate and the production cost was only $17 million.
Fox blockbuster’s The Martian continued to be a popular draw in its seventh weekend of release. The Matt Damon drama earned $6.7 million from 2,788 theaters, a drop of only 26% from last weekend. The Ridley Scott feature has earned a great $207 million so far domestically and an additional $263 million from overseas. With territories such as Japan and China yet to open the hit, the final global total for The Martian could go as high as $600 million.
Rounding out the top five was Warner’s drama The 33 with a meek $5.8 million from 2,452 theaters. A dramatization of the real-life 2010 rescue of 33-trapped Chilean miners was met with negative reviews from the press but scored with ticket buyers. The latter gave the film an “A-“ CinemaScore rating, which may help it stick around at least through Thanksgiving.
The final wide release of the weekend was the faith-based sports drama My All-American, which fumbled its way to a twelfth place, $1.32 million gross from 1,565 cinematic pulpits. The $20 million Aviron Pictures production didn’t win over many critics and played best in Texas and the South.
The remainder of the top ten:
- Goosebumps (Sony) $4.65 million (-32%); $73.4 million
- Bridge of Spies (Disney) $4.289 million (-26%); $61.6 million
- Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (FIP) $2.4 million
- Hotel Transylvania 2 (Sony) $2.3 million (-35%); $165 million
- The Last Witch Hunter (Lionsgate) $1.5 million (-42%); $26 million
The raunchy holiday comedy The Night Before and the thriller The Secret In Their Eyes join Mockingjay Part Two next weekend at cinemas nationwide.
