Weekend Box Office: Audiences Don’t Feel the Need

Lots of money was made at the box office this weekend, but not so much from Friday’s new releases.

The top two spots flip-flopped from last weekend. DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman‘ climbed into first place by slipping only 34% and earning another $21.2 million. After ten days, the 3D family flick has brought in $63.1 million. ‘300: Rise of an Empire‘ dropped a more significant 57% in attendance, but only fell to second place with $19.1 million. The 3D spin-off has a ten-day domestic total of $78.3 million, which is just a fraction of the $158 million that it has earned overseas so far.

Vying for the same demographic as ‘300’, ‘Need for Speed‘ had a fast lead-off from Friday’s starting line, but couldn’t keep up the momentum. Finishing in third place despite 3D ticket prices, the videogame adaptation earned $17.8 million over the weekend – which is nowhere near the comparable ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, the lowest-performing of which (‘Tokyo Drift‘) debuted more than $7 million higher than this without the help of 3D. The domestic opening for this $66 million action flick is less than impressive, but ‘Need for Speed’ finished far ahead of the competition internationally, pulling in $45.6 million from just a few markets.

I have no idea how the waste-of-time ‘Non-Stop‘ continues to be so successful. The third weekend for the lazy high-altitude thriller descended only 33%, giving it $10.6 million and a fourth place finish. Its 17-day total places its domestic earnings at $68.8 million.

Tyler Perry’s latest non-Madea movie had his worst opening to date. ‘The Single Moms Club‘ pulled in just $8.3 million. Box office analysts predict that it will top off at $25 million, which is unheard of for a Tyler Perry picture. With multiple movies each year, it appears that “Tyler Perry Fatigue Syndrome” has finally set in.

Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel‘ expanded from four screens to 66, which was more than enough to land it in the Top 10. The eighth place, $3.6 million weekend equalled a per-screen average of $55,152, which is a new high for a film playing on more than 50 screens. Expect the success to continue as Fox Searchlight expands the movie even wider this weekend.

The Kickstarter-funded big (and small) screen adaptation of ‘Veronica Mars‘ featured a strong but front-loaded debut. From 291 locations, the Kristen Bell vehicle locked in the final position of the Top 10 with an estimated $2 million. Earning more than half of its weekend haul on Friday and with little appeal for anyone unfamiliar with the series, the movie isn’t expected to earn much more. The movie can already be rented or purchased via streaming services. Many of the Kickstarter contributors were rewarded with free codes to redeem and own a Digital Copy. As of now, the income from streaming services hasn’t been announced.

Focus Features’ latest R-rated comedy acquisition had a decent opening this weekend. Directed by and starring Jason Bateman, ‘Bad Words‘ earned $120,000 from just six locations. We’ll see how well the barely-marketed film plays when it expands nationwide later this month.

Top 10:

1. ‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’ (Fox) – $21,200,000

2. ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ (Warner Bros.) – $19,105,000

3. ‘Need for Speed’ (Buena Vista) – $17,808,000

4. ‘Non-Stop’ (Universal) – $10,615,000

5. ‘Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club’ (Lionsgate) – $8,300,000

6. ‘The Lego Movie’ (Warner Bros.) – $7,705,000

7. ‘Son of God’ (Fox) – $5,400,000

8. ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (Fox Searchlight) – $3,640,000

9. ‘Frozen’ (Buena Vista) – $2,117,000

10. ‘Veronica Mars’ (Warner Bros.) – $2,021,000

1 comment

  1. William Henley

    Saw Need for Speed on Saturday night. It was the lightest attendance I have ever seen at that theater for an opening-weekend movie. There were like 100 guys and two girls in the theater (that holds over 600 – and this was a prime-time showing). I was dragged to see it by my friend. It was fun, but it wasn’t that great. I felt like I knew the story – its a cross country road trip that you add speed to. It felt a lot like the video games.

    However, I will give them that there WAS a story here, and it WAS better than just about any other video game inspired movie I have ever seen.

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