Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #11 of 2014 looks like $106 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, almost exactly matching the average for this weekend over the last few years. Two new wide releases didn’t do anything special, but two limited releases distinguished themselves.
Opening at 3,115 theaters Friday, Need for Speed from Disney grossed $6.6 million Friday, putting the film on track for an $18.5 million opening weekend (below our $25.5 million ShowbuzzDaily forecast). The film is pacing toward a three-day average of $5,900 per theater for the weekend (barely above the $5,333 opening weekend average for all wide-release films the last two years). Critical sentiment is not at supportive (23% positive overall and 22% positive with top critics). Need for Speed is headed for a soft $50 million total domestic.
Opening at 1,896 theaters Friday, Tyler Perry’s Single Moms Club from Lionsgate/Summit grossed $3.2 million Friday, putting the film on track for a $9.2 million opening weekend (well below our $17.0 million forecast). The film is pacing toward a sub-par three-day average of $4,800 per theater for the weekend. Critical sentiment is unkind (22% positive overall at RottenTomatoes and 20% positive with top critics). Single Moms Club is headed for around $25 million total domestic.
Opening in limited release, Veronica Mars from Warner Brothers is headed for a solid $9,400 opening weekend average at 291 theaters (for a $2.75 million weekend). Grand Budapest Hotel from director Wes Anderson and Fox Searchlight expanded to 66 theaters this weekend (from 4 last week) and is on track for an excellent $55,900 per theater weekend average (for $3.69 million this weekend and $4.83 million total through Sunday).
| Weekend 11: March 14-16, 2014 | ($ millions) | |||||
| Pre-Wknd Showbuzz Forecast | Early Weekend Estimate | Actual Friday Gross | Showbuzz Domestic Final Proj. | |||
| Mr Peabody & Sherman | Fox/DWA | [19.5] | 22.8 | 5.6 | 127 | |
| Need for Speed | Dis | [25.5] | 18.5 | 6.6 | 50 | |
| 300: Rise of an Empire | WB | [21.0] | 18.0 | 5.8 | 117 | |
| Non-Stop | Uni | [9.5] | 10.7 | 3.2 | 96 | |
| TP’s Single Moms Club | LG/Sum | [17.0] | 9.2 | 3.2 | 25 | |
| The LEGO Movie | WB | [7.4] | 8.8 | 2.1 | 265 | |
| Son of God | Fox | [5.9] | 5.7 | 1.5 | 61 | |
| Grand Budapest Hotel | FoxS | [—] | 3.7 | 1.1 | n/a | |
| Veronica Mars | WB | [—] | 2.7 | 1.0 | n/a | |
| Frozen 3D | Dis | [2.2] | 2.5 | .53 | 401 | |
| The Monuments Men | Sony | [2.0] | 2.1 | .59 | 81 | |
| 3 Days to Kill | Rel | [1.6] | 1.7 | .50 | 30 | |
Note: The table above summarizes an early look at the weekend. The first column is a reminder of each film’s ShowBuzzDaily Forecast for the weekend (in brackets). The second column, on which the films are sorted, displays the new weekend projection for each film, based on the Friday numbers (the third column). The final column is a preliminary estimate of the ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Total number for the film’s total run in North America. A “++” indicates the Domestic number has been upgraded; a “–” indicates a downgrade.
Total Box Office Volume
The Top 12 Films this weekend are looking like $106 million total Friday-Sunday, up 1% from the four-year average for the comparable weekend and up 11% from the same weekend last year.
| WEEKEND 11 | ($ millions) | ||
| Weekend Volume: Top 12 Films | Top Movies Opening Each Weekend (Fri-Sun only) | ||
| 2014 | $106 | Need for Speed $18.5, TP’s Single Moms Club $9.2 | |
| 2013 | $96 | The Call $17.1, Incredible Burt Wonderstone $10.2 | |
| 2012 | $98 | 21 Jump Street $36.3, Friends with Kids $1.5 | |
| 2011 | $103 | Limitless $18.9, Lincoln Lawyer $13.2, Paul $13.0 | |
| 2010 | $115 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid $22.1, The Bounty Hunter $20.7, Repo Men $6.1 | |
| Avg 2010-13 | $105 | ||
Check back tomorrow for more complete Weekend Studio Estimates based on Saturday’s actual box office, as well as the International Box Office report.
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