Weekend Box Office: Drag Along

After nearly a month at the top of the box office charts, ‘The Force Awakens’ was finally dethroned by the ‘Ride Along’ sequel. As it turns out, that’s not the only movie that out-grossed ‘Star Wars’ this weekend either.

Ride Along 2‘ made a chart-topping debut with $34 million. While that’s a solid opening for a January buddy comedy sequel, it’s 18% down from the original ‘Ride Along‘, which premiered to $41.5 million in 2014. The first movie went on to earn $134.9 million domestically, but it’s unlikely that the sequel will cross the $100 million mark.

Dropping only 26% since last weekend’s wide expansion, ‘The Revenant‘ also out-grossed ‘Star Wars’. Thanks to strong word-of-mouth and a dozen Oscar nominations (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor), the Leonardo-DiCaprio-against-the-elements drama earned $29.5 million stateside and $31.5 million overseas, which is much-needed considering the film’s $135 million price tag. The bone-chilling picture has now pulled $87.6 million domestically and $58.6 million internationally, giving it a worldwide total of $151.8 million.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ dropped into third place after nearly one full month in the top spot. With a 40% decline this weekend, it made another $25.1 million. Already holding the record as the highest-grossing domestic release, this weekend raised that bar up to $851 million. Internationally, ‘The Force Awakens’ crossed the $1 billion mark, making it the fifth film to ever hit that feat.

Michael Bay’s modern warfare drama had a rough time drawing moviegoers. ‘13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi‘ opened in the #4 spot with $16 million. That’s Bay’s worst opening in a decade. I see two elements that may be to blame for the lackluster debut of the $50 million picture: First, as it’s based on a controversial true story, some may see this movie as a being made “too soon.” Second, Michael Bay isn’t exactly known for doing justice to historical war stories. (Remember ‘Pearl Harbor‘?) He may be the least appealing director to tackle the controversial Benghazi story. ’13 Hours’ will be lucky to make $50 domestically and – since it’s an American tale – isn’t likely to do enough business overseas to make it a success.

The four-week-old Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg comedy ‘Daddy’s Home‘ rounded out the Top 5. Falling a lower-than-expected 38%, it has now grossed a staggering $129.2 million domestically.

Hoping to draw the family audiences that haven’t had a new movie in five weeks, Lionsgate’s ‘Norm of the North‘ wasn’t able to capitalize on the gap. From 2,400 locations, the Rob Schneider-voiced movie opened to $6.6 million and a weak per-screen average of $2,769. The animated picture was produced for an estimated $18 million, but is going to have a difficult time making much more than that.

Last week’s Oscar nomination announcements created a box office boost for those films honored. ‘Brooklyn‘ climbed 57% with $1.6 million and sits with a domestic total of $24.6 million. ‘Spotlight‘ rose 66% with $1.5 million and has a $30.5 million domestic total. Up 360% was foreign film ‘Son of Saul‘ with $113,748 from 21 locations.

Opening numbers for ‘Moonwalkers’ have yet to be announced.

Top 10:

1. ‘Ride Along 2’ (Universal) – $34,040,000

2. ‘The Revenant’ (Fox) – $29,500,000

3. ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ (Buena Vista) – $25,120,000

4. ’13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’ (Paramount) – $16,000,000

5. ‘Daddy’s Home’ (Paramount) – $9,300,000

6. ‘Norm of the North’ (Lionsgate) – $6,675,000

7. ‘The Forest’ (Focus) – $5,792,000

8. ‘The Big Short’ (Paramount) – $5,200,000

9. ‘Sisters’ (Universal) – $4,420,000

10. ‘The Hateful Eight’ (Weinstein) – $3,447,000

3 comments

  1. Al

    “The bone-chilling picture has now pulled $87.6 million domestically and $58.6 million internationally, giving it a worldwide total of $151.8 million.”

    Uh… No… ‘The Revenant’ has already made nearly 100 million domestic. You’re about 10 million off, with that statement.

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