After enduring the second worst weekend for business in 2014 the North American box office began to reverse its course this weekend as Fox’s big budget biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings opened with mild numbers at number one. Paramount’s low-budget Chris Rock comedy Top Five had a modest launch but rang up decent numbers to land in fourth place while Warner’s Inherent Vice posted big numbers in a five screen bow. The box office was up ten percent over last weekend’s totals but down a steep 45% from last year at this time when The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug arrived with $73 million.
Exodus: Gods and Kings withstood the cinematic plagues of bad critical notices and holiday festivities this weekend to pull in an estimated $24.5 million from 3,503 screens for an okay per screen average of $6,994. The opening for the $140 million Ridley Scott retelling of the story of Moses (Christian Bale) and Ramses (Joel Edgerton) was in line with studio projections but fell short of such recent faith-based dramas such as Noah ($43.7 million) and Son of God ($25.6 million). The mild opening for Exodus may be an indication that despite the heavy promotion put forward by the studio, the movie isn’t reaching people beyond the religious demographic.
Reviews were largely negative for Exodus. The Rotten Tomatoes rating was a dire 28% and the Metacritic score was a middling 52/100. A more troubling sign for the film’s longevity may lie in what ticket buyers had to say. They gave the film a damning “B-“ rating on CinemaScore. Despite the mixed reception, Exodus should still be able to earn some cash thanks to the upcoming holiday frame. Another factor that might help the film domestically are the higher-priced premium large screen formats and 3D showings. Eleven percent of this weekend’s opening numbers came from the former and a whopping 44% from the latter. Foreign markets should also help offset any North American indifference. So far they have contributed $50 million since opening on December 5th.
After sitting atop the box office for three weeks straight The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One moved down one spot to second place where it earned an estimated $13.2 million from 3,731 screens. Off 40%, the third chapter in the popular Lionsgate franchise has bagged $277.3 million and is still on course to finish with approximately $320 million domestically. Overseas, Katniss has earned a mighty $334 million. With the lucrative Chinese market yet to open the film, Mockingjay may hit the $800 million mark globally.
Third place went to Fox/Dreamworks’ animated comedy Penguins of Madagascar with $7.3 million from 3,667 screens. The cartoon’s third weekend was down 33% from its sophomore session. The domestic total for Penguins stands at $59 million while the foreign total is at $116 million.
Paramount’s acclaimed Chris Rock comedy Top Five debuted on 979 screens where the R-rated film earned $7.2 million for a per-screen average of $7,365 and a fourth place finish. The average for Top Five was the second highest in the top ten behind Wild. Reviews were strong for the comedy, which Rock wrote, starred and directed. The film earned a solid 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 81/100 on Metacritic. Paramount will expand the feature to 2,000 screens by the end of the month. The movie opens overseas in early 2015.
Rounding out the top five was Disney’s Big Hero 6 with $6.1 million from 2,943 theaters in its sixth week of release. Off only 29%, the animated hit has earned $185.3 million. Overseas totals stand at $68.2 million.
The third notable opening of the weekend was Warner’s five-screen launch of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice. The trippy comedy, starring Joaquin Phoenix, James Brolin and Katherine Waterston and based on the Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name, earned a great $330,000 for a big per screen average of $66,000.
Reviews were largely positive for Vice (73% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, 81/100 Metacritic) and Anderson’s fans turned out in big numbers in both New York and Los Angeles. However, the film did drop 15% on Saturday, which could be a sign that viewer satisfaction may not be as strong as it has been for previous Anderson efforts such as Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood. The real test will be on January 9th when the movie goes into wide release.
The remainder of the top ten is as follows:
6. Interstellar (Paramount/Warner) $5.5 million (-29%); $166.8 million
7. Horrible Bosses 2 (Warner) $4.6 million (-45%); $43.6 million
8. Dumb and Dumber To (Universal) $2.7 million (-35%); $82 million
9. The Theory of Everything (Focus Features) $2.5 million (-5%); $17.1 million
10. Wild (Fox Searchlight) $1.5 million (+155%); $2.4 million
Wednesday brings the domestic release of the final film in The Hobbit trilogy The Battle of the Five Armies while Friday sees the arrival of Sony’s Annie remake and Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. Bilbo and Gandalf got a head start overseas this weekend where it earned a massive $117.6 million.
