Weekend Wrap-Up: Angel of Death Breathes Life into Box Office
January 5, 2015
2015 box office started off on a strong note with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies leading the way with $21.73 million. More impressive, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death earned fourth place with $15.03 million, which is significantly more than what most people were predicting. The overall box office was $155 million, which is 2% lower than last weekend. More importantly, it is 10% higher than the same weekend last year. Obviously it is far, far too early to judge 2015, but after what happened last year, I'll take any win and I'll be happy about it.
As expected, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies reached $200 million very early in the weekend earning $21.73 million for a three-week total of $220.60 million. It is on track to reach $250 million with ease and should top The Desolation of Smaug's domestic final in the end.
Into the Woods slipped a little faster than expected, but still earned second place with $18.73 million over the weekend for a total of $90.87 million after eleven days of release. It will reach the century mark early this coming weekend.
Unbroken also fell a little faster than expected earning $18.17 million over the weekend for a running tally of $87.65 million. It too will get to $100 million over the weekend, which should keep the studio happy.
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death opened in fourth place with $15.03 million over the weekend. This is a great start, especially given the film's reviews and its predicted production budget. There is almost no chance this film cost $15 million to make, as it lacks the big name star its predecessor had. In fact, it might have cost less than $8 million, meaning the movie made more on its opening day than it cost to make. Regardless, if it can get to $30 million domestically and match that internationally, then it will break even early in its home market run.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb slipped to fifth place with $14.52 million over the weekend for a total of $89.85 million after three weeks of release. It will be one of a handful of films to reach the century milestone next weekend. However, this is well below the franchise average.
Annie was knocked out of the top five with $11.25 million over the weekend for a total of $72.46 million after seventeen days of release. It is on pace to get to $100 million, but barely. If it slips too much next weekend, it will fall below the $100 million pace.
The Gambler was the best of the rest of the sophomore class down just 31% to $6.33 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $27.60 million. The buzz was weak enough that I didn't think it would open truly wide, so this is a better than expected result. I also didn't think Big Eyes would open truly wide, and I was right. It did hold on well, down just 13% to $2.61 million over the weekend for a total of $9.92 million after two. The film cost $10 million to make, so this isn't a bad start. However, its per theater average is low enough that it will lose theaters rapidly from now on, so it will need a big international run to break even.
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Big Eyes, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Annie, Into the Woods, Unbroken, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death, The Gambler, Night at the Museum