No one expected this weekend’s soft new arrivals to come near last week’s holdovers, and they’re not. LOVE THE COOPERS (CBS/Lionsgate) is at least creditable, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, with a $2.7M Friday that should give it $7-8M for the weekend. Coopers is intended as a long-term play that will hang around into the holidays, appealing to a “mature” (which is to say adult bordering on elderly) audience. That demo is very real (earlier this year, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel parlayed a $2.7M opening day into a $8.5M weekend and ultimately a $33.1M US total), so the strategy could work for the low-budget dramedy.
THE 33 (Alcon/Warners) is another failure for its beleaguered studio, although more low-key than most, earning $1.7M on Friday for a $4-5M weekend. The film has been heavily marketed to Latino and religious audiences, so it will hope for a strong Sunday. Warners reportedly served as a studio-for-hire on the film, with most of the financial responsibility (and likely red ink) falling on financier Alcon.
MY ALL-AMERICAN (Clarius) also aimed itself at Christian audiences, but is finding few takers even there at a $500K Friday that might give it $1.5M or so for the weekend.
The real business was with the franchises. SPECTRE (MGM/Columbia/Sony) dipped 62% from its opening day last week to $10.4M, a bit worse than the 60% drop for the 2d Friday of Skyfall. That film fell 54% on its 2d full weekend, and a slightly steeper result for Spectre would put it at $32-33M for the weekend, placing it at $127-128M by Sunday, about 20% below Skyfall. That would lead it to a potential $245M US total, a $60M gap which the producers would hope to fill with increased revenue overseas.
THE PEANUTS MOVIE (Blue Sky/20th) held better, down 53% from last Friday to $5.7M and with a $24-25M weekend ahead that should put it over $80M by Friday, still on track for $150M or so in the US.
THE MARTIAN (TSG/20th) is unkillable, slipping just 27% on its 7th Friday to $1.9M. It’s now over $200M in the US, and should have a $7M weekend, on its way to $225M+. BRIDGE OF SPIES (DreamWorks/20th/Disney) is also very solid, down 29% from last Friday to $1.3M, for what should be a $4M+ weekend, aiming at a $70M US total and with hopes of getting some attention as awards season begins at the end of the month.
GOOSEBUMPS (Columbia/Sony) and HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 (Columbia/Sony) are still in the hunt, down 35% to $1.1M and 37% to $500K on Friday, with $4.5M/$2.3M weekends ahead. The two should respectively end up at $85M and $170M in the US.
BY THE SEA (Universal) exists because the studio wants to be in business with Angelina and Brad Jolie Pitt, and the price won’t be nominal: the purported art film is faring badly in its 10-theatre initial run, heading for a per-theatre average that may not reach $10K for the weekend, an awful result for such a high-profile, big-star vehicle. Universal will hope to garner some interest overseas, and more importantly that the stars will remember the studio’s commitment and come there first with their more commercial projects.
SPOTLIGHT (Open Road), BROOKLYN (Fox Searchlight) and TRUMBO (Bleecker Street) all expanded from last weekend’s openings. Spotlight, now in 61 theatres, should have a solid weekend per-theatre average of $20K, which compares to the $27K average Birdman had last year when it widened to 50 theatres. Brooklyn is in 23 theatres, also headed for a $20K weekend average, although that number is somewhat less impressive since it’s hovering in fewer cities. (Boyhood had a $34K average when it reached 34 theatres.) Trumbo continues to trail, on its way to a $6K weekend average at 20 theatres.
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