OPENINGS: Although it won’t arrive here until the end of the week, Ridley Scott’s EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS (20th) had a strong start in 10 overseas territories with $23M. It will be gunning for the $261.4M foreign total of Noah earlier this year.
Other than that, the pitiful THE PYRAMID (20th) managed $1.35M at 589 theatres, and will now disappear from the consciousness of just about everyone.
HOLDOVERS: The weekend belonged once again to THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART I (Lionsgate), down 62% from last weekend to $21.6M. That’s slightly better than the 65% post-Thanksgiving dip for Catching Fire, although Mockingjay, at $257.7M in the US, can’t catch up with the $335.9M Catching Fire had at this point in its release. Overseas, Mockingjay was on top as well with $31.6M, giving it $302.8M so far, with China still to come in 2015. China, though, was not a giant territory for Catching Fire ($27.9M), and if Mockingjay behaves likewise, it may have a tough time reaching Catching Fire‘s $440.2M foreign total.
PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR (DreamWorks Animation/20th) had an uninspiring 56% drop from last weekend to $11.1M, although it compared fairly well with last year’s post-Thanksgiving 53% drop for Frozen. Penguins has only earned $49.6M so far, and next weekend is the last one it will have with the family market to itself. Overseas, Penguins took in $23.3M in 49 territories for a $93.8M total. Although it still has some major markets yet to come, it won’t get anywhere near the $530.5M international box office of the last real Madagascar movie.
HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 (New Line/Warners) held quite well, down 44% to $8.6M. But it started out so low that it only has $36.1M to date, with competition on the way from Top Five and The Interview. It may not end up with more than half of the first Horrible Bosses‘ $117.5M. Overseas, Horrible 2 took in $7.9M in 49 territories for a $23.1M total. Back in the US, DUMB AND DUMBER TO (Red Granite/Universal) dropped 50% to $4.2M for a far more handsome $78.1M total.
Long runners BIG HERO 6 (Disney), INTERSTELLAR (Paramount/Warners) and GONE GIRL (20th) continue to impress. Big Hero 6 declined 57% to $8.1M in its 5th weekend, with $177.5M so far and a fair chance of reaching $200M. It’s still in just 27 international markets, where it has $62.8M after a $4M weekend. Interstellar fell 49% to $8M, also in Weekend 5, and has earned $158.7M in the US. Its real accomplishment, though, is overseas, where it added another $22.8M for an amazing $434.4M. It’s poised to pass Gravity, and has an outside shot of catching Inception‘s $533M, with $650M+ worldwide a near-certainty. Christopher Nolan may be the last man in Hollywood to truly have a blank check to do anything, at any budget, he may desire. Meanwhile, the 2d best hold in the Top 10 belonged to Gone Girl in its 10th weekend, down 39% to $1.5M, with $162.9M in the US and $173.4M overseas.
On the Oscar hopeful front, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (Focus/Universal) dipped 47% to $2.7M, a $3200 average at 826 theatres. (Last year, Philomena‘s post-Thanksgiving drop was 40%.) BIRDMAN (Fox Searchlight) fell 39% to $1.2M, a $1600 average at 738 theatres. NIGHTCRAWLER (Open Road) more than doubled its run to 1257 theatres but only increased its total by 27%, to $1.1M (an $860 average).
LIMITED RELEASE: WILD (Fox Searchlight) had a solid $30K per-theatre average in its launch at 21 theatres, a larger than usual bow for a platform release. FOXCATCHER (Sony Classics) held fairly well, down 44% from last weekend in 75 theatres (+3 from last week) for a $7700 average. THE IMITATION GAME (Weinstein) doubled its run but is still at just 8 theatres, and its box office take was down 16% from last weekend despite the doubling, although nevertheless with a strong $50K average. THE HOMESMAN (Roadside) tripled its theatres to 154 and more than doubled its revenues, with a decent $3300 average. The various studios didn’t release their box office returns for 1-week Oscar qualifying runs of STILL ALICE (Sony Classics), BLACK OR WHITE (Relativity) or THE HUMBLING (Millenium), which were intended in large part for non-paying Guild members.
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