Weekend Box Office: Hidden in Plain Sight

After last week’s surprise Monday announcement that ‘Hidden Figures’ had dethroned ‘Rogue One’, it’s no surprise that the female-led historical drama took the top spot at the box office again this weekend. None of the week’s newer movies stood a chance.

Adding 815 screens and climbing up to a total of 3,286 locations, ‘Hidden Figures‘ beat out its closest contender by nearly $6 million. Its second week in wide release resulted in $20.4 million, which is down just 10% from last weekend. Including the two weeks that it played on a limited screen count, the ensemble picture has now earned $54.8 million, which is stellar for a small movie that came with a low $25 million price tag. The buzz it’s creating stateside should only help when it starts its impending international release.

In an unforeseeable surprise move, ‘La La Land‘ managed to find its way up from the #5 spot to #2. Although the Golden Globes may be a joke within the industry, the movie’s several wins there certainly helped garner some interest from viewers. This weekend bumped its screen count up to 1,848 (including 148 IMAX locations, for some reason), from which it drew $14.5 million. To date, the $30 million throwback musical has made $74 million domestically and $54.8 million overseas, giving it a $128.8 million worldwide total.

Falling just 33% in attendance, ‘Sing‘ retained third place by selling another $13.8 million in tickets. After four weeks, Illumination’s $75 million animated film has $233 million domestically and $164.3 million overseas, placing its worldwide total at $397.3 million.

Five-week-old ‘Rogue One‘ fell from second place into fourth, but don’t feel bad for it. The $13.7 million it made this weekend brings its domestic total up to $498.8 million, giving it the title of highest-grossing domestic release from 2016. The film’s international tally is now up to $481.1 million, for a worldwide total of $979.9 million. Within the next several days, Disney will have yet another billion-dollar hit under its belt.

The only of this weekend’s new releases that outperformed expectations was STX’s PG-13 horror flick ‘The Bye Bye Man‘. The stupidly-titled movie managed to gross $13.3 million, just enough to round out the Top 5. From a dozen international markets, it drew $1.3 million, giving it a $14.6 million worldwide debut. With a production cost of just $7.4 million, ‘The Bye Bye Man’ will be profitable within the week.

The wide expansion of ‘Patriots Day‘ resulted in rather lackluster numbers. Collecting $12 million from 3,120 locations, it finished in the #6 spot. Including its two weeks in limited release, the $45 million Boston Marathon bombing picture has grossed $12.9 million. Just like Peter Berg’s other 2016 film, ‘Deepwater Horizon‘, ‘Patriots Day’ will need help from its yet-to-begin international release.

After three years sitting on a studio shelf, ‘Monster Trucks‘ opened in seventh place – which is a lot better than I predicted. From 3,119 screens, the cheesy family film drove off with $10.5 million. Overseas, it made another $14.7 million, putting its worldwide total at $25.2 million. Considering that it cost $125 million to make, even its distributor is calling the movie a flop. Paramount’s Viacom is said to have already written this one off as a $100+ million loss.

This weekend’s big surprise was Jamie Foxx’s ‘Sleepless‘. While it definitely tanked, the movie still outgrossed Ben Affleck’s new gangster flick. ‘Sleepless’ debuted in eighth place and gathered $8.4 million from 1,803 locations. In its first weekend nationwide (2,822 screens, to be exact), ‘Live by Night‘ landed at #11 with $5.4 million. Its domestic total sits at $5.6 million and its international total at $3.3 million. ‘Sleepless’ is estimated to have cost $30 million to produce, while ‘Live by Night’ is estimated at $65 million. At this rate, ‘Sleepless’ is bound to be the more profitable flop of the two.

Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence‘ expanded from 51 screens to 747. In the process, it also failed to take hold. The $1.9 million weekend brings its domestic total up to $3 million. The 161-minute Oscar contender cost $40 million to produce and has yet to open overseas.

Top 10:

1. ‘Hidden Figures’ (Fox) – $20,450,000

2. ‘La La Land’ (Lionsgate) – $14,500,000

3. ‘Sing’ (Universal) – $13,810,000

4. ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ (Buena Vista) – $13,759,000

5. ‘The Bye Bye Man’ (STX) – $13,378,000

6. ‘Patriots Day’ (Lionsgate) – $12,000,000

7. ‘Monster Trucks’ (Paramount) – $10,500,000

8. ‘Sleepless’ (Open Road) – $8,468,787

9. ‘Underworld: Blood Wars’ (Screen Gems) – $5,815,000

10. ‘Passengers’ (Sony) – $5,625,000

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