Question: What’s more embarrassing than the defense of the 2016 San Francisco 49ers?
Answer: The North America box office over the 2017 Super Bowl weekend.
Super Bowl weekend has always been a graveyard at the multiplex, but this year was particularly awful. The Universal horror flick Split had no trouble holding on to the number one spot for a third straight week, while Paramount’s Rings and STX’s The Space Between Us both bombed. Overall, the top ten was down 32% from last week’s numbers.
Just shy of the $100 million mark, Split earned an estimated $14.6 million from 3,373 theaters. The three-week gross for the popular thriller is currently at $98.7 million. Foreign totals stand at $44 million. Split passed Unbreakable to become filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan’s fifth biggest career hit – pre-inflation- and should finish around $130 million.
This week’s failed attempt at reviving a dead franchise is Paramount’s Rings, which scared up a weak $13 million from 2,931 screens. Rings scored a 5% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which is far scarier than anything found in the actual film. The first new chapter in twelve years for the Ring franchise, Rings also struck out with the ticket buyers. They gave the film a dreaded “C-“ on CinemaScore. The horror flick was a little luckier overseas, where it earned an estimated $15 million this weekend.
The news was far worse for the other wide release of the weekend, the STX romantic weepie The Space Between Us. The young adult drama was dismissed by the critics -who gave it an 18% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes- and all but ignored by the public, who showed up to the tune of a pathetic $3.8 million from 2,812 theaters.
Universal’s A Dog’s Purpose had a decent second week hold in third place. The family drama eased 41% to earn an estimated $10.8 million from 3,178 theaters. Its ten-day total is just under $33 million. A final total near the $55 million mark is possible.
Fox’s Hidden Figures continued its winning ways on 3,401 screens, where it earned an estimated $10.1 million. The acclaimed Oscar nominated drama had the best hold in the top ten, off only 28% from the previous frame. After seven weeks of release, Hidden Figures has brought in a great $119.4 million so far and should calculate its way close to the $150 million mark.
Another long-running hit rounded out the top five: La La Land. The recent winner of both the Producers and Directors Guild awards, the future Oscar contender earned an estimated $7.45 million from 3,236 theaters in its ninth week of release. Off 39%, La La Land has danced its way to a terrific $118.3 million in North America so far and an additional $150 million from overseas markets. Should the film score big at the Oscars; La La Land could dance off into the multiplex sunset with $170 million in domestic sales.
- Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (Sony) $4.5 million (-67%); $21.8 million
- Sing (Universal) $4 million (-36%); $263 million
- Lion (Weinstein) $4 million (+71%); $24.7 million
- The Space Between Us (STX) $3.8 million
- xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (Paramount) $3.7 million 9-57%); $40 million
Next weekend, the box office should rebound quite nicely as the comedy Fifty Shades Darker, The LEGO Batman Movie and John Wick: Chapter Two arrive on the scene. Fifty Shades Darker will probably eke out a number one win, but it won’t come anywhere near the $85 million suckered out of ticket buyers two years ago by Fifty Shades of Grey.
