1. Prisoners - $21.4M - $21.4M
2. Insidious Chapter 2 - $14.5M - $60.8M
3. The Family - $7M - $25.6M
4. Instructions Not Included- $5.7M - $34.2M
5. Battle of the Year - $5M - $5M
6. We're The Millers - $4.7M - $138.1M
7. The Butler - $4.6M -$106.4M
8. Riddick - $3.6M -$37.2M
9. The Wizard of Oz 3D - $2M - $88.3M
10. Planes - $2.8M - $86.5M
Another
slightly shorter box office report this weekend. With two releases,
only one of which saw a roll out above 3,000 theatres, there was some
breathing space for last weekend's releases, Insidious Chapter 2 and The
Family. The horror flick got off to a great start and was hoping to
avoid the usual second frame curse. Next weekend already looks set to be
dominated by the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs sequel, while
further ahead we have the release of the long-awaited Gravity.
Prisoners
is a crime thriller directed by Incendies helmer, Denis Villeneuve. It
stars Hugh Jackman as a father whose daughter, along with her friend,
are kidnapped one Thanksgiving. With the investigation, led by Jake
Gyllenhaal's Detective Loki seemingly coming to nought, Jackman's Keller
Dover decides to take matters into his own hands and attempt to get an
admittance of guilt from the only potential suspect of the crime - no
matter what the cost. Villeneuve has been making films for a number of
years, with his first feature, Un 32 août sur terre, seeing release in
1998. It's arguable that it was the success of the aforementioned
Incendies, about twins looking into the life of their mother, that
brought him to Hollywood's attention. Working from a script by Aaron
Guzikowski, the director filled out the remainder of his cast with Maria
Bello, Viola Davis and Terence Howard, the two latter actors playing
the parents of the other kidnapped child. More of a slow burn dramatic
thriller than something like Ransom, the picture received very strong
notices, particularly for Jackman and Paul Dano, who plays the chief
suspect. Prisoners was made for $46M and would be entering a relatively
quiet market, with little in the way of new competition. However, a
difficult subject matter and 150 minute+ runtime had the potential to be
a stumbling block.
All that said, Prisoners got off to a solid
start on Friday, when it made $7M - easily a strong enough figure to
secure first place. It's also proof if needed, that an audience will
turn out for intelligently made adult drama. The picture managed to keep
up the pace over Saturday and into Sunday, making a further $14.4M and
bringing its opening total to $21.4M. According to reports, that's
actually a little higher than the studio were expecting ($15-18M was
bandied about prior to opening). Prisoners is also the type of film that
could play well on weekdays. Where it goes from here will be
interesting - if word of mouth catches it should hold well next weekend,
but will also be facing an expanded Rush, another drama already picking
up some great reviews. For now, its $21M is a very strong starting
point.
Insidious Chapter 2 opened incredibly well last weekend,
making $40M in its first three days. But unlike director James Wan's
summer hit, The Conjuring, the word of mouth on this sequel wasn't as
strong, and that led to some low weekday takings - the worst day being
Thursday when it made $1.2M. However, given the film cost only $5M to
make, even a complete collapse in week 2 wouldn't cause too many
sleepless nights for studio Film District. A $4.6M Friday haul saw
Chapter 2 drop a very high 77% on its opening day. That fall was to be
expected given how big that first day was, but it also meant the picture
was performing to the second weekend curse that befalls most horror
features. By Sunday night its total was $14M (an overall fall of 64%),
bringing its ten day figure to $60.8M. While obviously not as strong as
the aforementioned Conjuring, Insidious Chapter 2 has already surpassed
the entire theatrical tally of the first picture. With that ultra low
budget in mind, the film will have also recouped its print and
advertising costs, and should now be looking at real profit. $100M
certainly isn't going to happen, but an $80-85M finish is well within
its grasp.
With an ok start of $14M, The Family kept itself clear
of flop territory last weekend, but like the Insidious sequel,
struggled to keep up that momentum during the week. By the eve of its
second frame, it was sitting on a running total of $18.6M. Its second
Friday saw the picture bumped down to third place, making $2M in the
process. It would add another $3.1M on Saturday, with $1.7M Sunday,
bringing its weekend total to $7M. That means since release The Family
has made $25.6M. At this point it is safe to say it'll cover its $30M
production costs but won't break out much further from here - though as
mentioned last weekend, it could play well overseas. Up next for De Niro
is Last Vegas along side Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin
Kline.
Spanish language comedy-drama, Instructions Not Included
saw no further expansion this weekend, but did manage to move up the
chart, and went on to earn $5.7M. That brings its cumulative gross to
$34.2M, a figure that may well open the doors for more Spanish language
films in the coming months.
Our only other major release this
weekend is Battle of the Year, a dance drama directed by Benson Lee. It
was actually Lee's 2007 documentary, Planet B-Boy, about break dancing
culture and its 'Battle of the Year' competition that served as the
basis for this movie. Back in 2009 Screen Gems began to entertain the
idea of a movie (perhaps buoyed somewhat by the success of the Step Up
movie series) despite break dancing facing a decline in North America.
It would be another two years before things began to fall into place, at
which point it was announced that Josh Holloway and Chris Brown had
signed on to appear. The story follows a duo who are convinced that they
can lead any team to victory with the proper coaching. The picture was
actually shot almost two years ago and was initially set for release in
the final quarter of 2012 (the first trailer for Battle of The Year
debuted in July of last year) but was ultimately delayed. Out to just
over 2,000 screens, the picture made only $1.5M on Friday - which is
some way off the $4.9M made by the most recent Step Up movie on its
opening day in July 2012. Over the remainder of the frame it managed to
make just $3.5M, to give it a weak 3-day total of $5M. Battle of the
Year might be lucky enough to see another round in the top ten but will
be gone shortly after. While it won't recoup its $20M budget
domestically, it should perform well on DVD and like the Step Up series,
could play well overseas - if it sees a release there.
Comedy
We're The Millers crossed $135M this weekend, an exceptional amount of
money for a film many were dismissive of prior to its release. Combined
with its international take, it has now made over $222M, surpassing the
global figure made by summer hit, The Heat.
Lee Daniels' The
Butler added another $4.3M this weekend. That gives the Forest Whitaker
ensemble drama an overall total of $106.4M. While it won't reach the
dizzy heights of The Help, this is a very solid performance. Expect to
see The Butler rise again when awards season gets underway.
Vin
Diesel's third turn as Riddick has all but made back its $38M production
budget domestically. In its third weekend the R-rated action thriller
made $3.6M, bringing its 17 day total to $37.1M. It might see one more
frame inside the top ten. Overseas Riddick has so far made a similar
$36.9M. Whether that combined figure will be enough for a further
low-budget sequel remains to be seen.
Managing to crack the top
ten from just 318 Imax screens is the re-release of The Wizard of Oz.
The all time classic, which was also converted to 3D, managed to earn
$3M for a ninth place finish this weekend.
Planes has now made
$86.5M in North America, with a further $69M abroad. It'll leave the top
ten just in time for the Meatballs sequel to take its place.
In a
very limited release, the Ron Howard Formula One drama, Rush, which
charts the rivalry shared between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, made $200K
on only 5 screens. It will expand nationwide next weekend.
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